I hate you but I love you
by EPotterME
Summary: Hermione Granger starts her final year at Hogwarts despising everything about the conceited and arrogant Draco Malfoy. Their first night together in their shared common room brings out secrets that would never have gotten out if they weren't this.
1. Another Year Begins

I hate you but I love you…

Chapter 1: Another Year Begins

"Mum, I have to go!" Hermione Granger exclaimed for what seemed like the millionth time. "The Hogwarts Express is going to leave any minute!"

"Fine, but promise you'll write, and please don't get into trouble!" Mrs. Granger hugged her daughter one last time before sending her on her final trip to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"I promise mum." Hermione called out the window of the magic-filled train. As soon as her mother was out of sight, Hermione left with her trunk to find her two friends, Harry Potter, and Ronald Weasley.

Entering the next compartment of the train, she spotted flaming red hair. That had to be them. Walking a little faster, Hermione opened their compartment door and was soon being embraced by the people that loved her the most.

"Harry, Ron, I missed you over the summer!" She shrieked while they let go of her and sat back down.

"We missed you too, the World Cup was great!" Harry replied and Ron nodded in agreement.

"Congratulations on making Head Girl, Hermione." Ron added, looking at the shiny badge on her robes.

"Thanks, and speaking of Head Girl, I have to stay in the Head compartment and check the corridors once in a while." Hermione frowned, "I wish I could spend more time with you on our first day back, I really do."

"That's okay; we'll see you later I guess." Harry said, making her feel a little better. Hermione turned and left to find the Head compartment.

As she entered the door labeled Heads, Hermione saw the last person she wanted as Head Boy.

"Granger thought you'd be Head Girl." Draco Malfoy sneered, leaning his ego-inflated head against the compartment walls.

"Well I didn't think you had enough brains to be made Head Boy." Hermione retorted after placing her trunk on the luggage rack.

"Why? I've been in most of your classes, I was a prefect, and obviously you need decent grades for that." Malfoy said glaring at her, and then put his legs up in the rest of the train seat, "Or you could just be a know-it-all mudblood." He mumbled under his breath while rolling his eyes.

"Maybe you were only prefect because your ape-like body-guards Crabbe and Goyle can't seem to know their left from right! Speaking of them, where are they? Shouldn't they be here protecting you, or are you too good for them now?"

"Will you just shut the hell up, Granger!" Malfoy yelled sitting up. Hermione nervously looked at him as though she might cry.

"I'm s-s-sorry." She said quietly, her voice shaking.

"And by the way, Crabbe and Goyle didn't feel the need to further their education, so it's just me, well and Zabini." He said, adding, "For future reference, I received ten OWL's… that's only one less than you."

The first hour was uneventful. Malfoy had fallen asleep and Hermione glared over the top of her book at him. She couldn't stand anything about him and at least she wouldn't have to deal with him once they arrived at the school.

Hermione decided to join Harry and Ron, seeing as Malfoy wouldn't even notice she had left. As quietly as she possibly could, she opened the compartment door and ventured down the train isle to where she had last seen her friends.

Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione saw a flash of red hair disappear behind a compartment with the blinds shut... _Maybe their compartment was closer than it seemed._ Hermione thought and made her way to the compartment in which her friends were.

She knocked on the door and hears someone groan from within. To her surprise it sounded a lot like Ginny who had probably joined Harry and Ron.

"Come in if you must!" Ginny yelled through the door and Hermione pushed it open to find Ginny and Harry looking quite disheveled. Ginny moved off of Harry's lap and both blushed profusely.

"You two can get back to whatever you were doing. I was just looking for company other than Malfoy." Hermione said quickly, trying not to look at them and not wanting to embarrass them even more.

"It's okay. We thought it might have been someone else trying to find out what we were doing." Ginny said and Harry nodded in agreement.

"Well, I'll just err… leave now and talk with Ron instead. Sorry for interrupting this … _moment_. See you later!" Hermione was about to close the door when Harry called her back.

"And Hermione, please don't mention this to Ron. He still isn't fully comfortable with the thought of us being with each other." Harry explained, wrapping his arm around Ginny.

"Sure." Hermione said and left them to continue whatever they were doing.

She traveled down the isle to where Ron's compartment really was. He was sitting alone, looking out the window as rain hit against it.

"Hey Ron, where did Harry go?" Hermione asked trying to cover for her friend.

"Huh? Oh I didn't hear you come in Hermione." Ron said after jumping slightly from his spot at the window. "He went to use the bathroom… Said his stomach was bothering him."  
"Well I hope he'll be all right." Hermione sat across from Ron who looked lonely.

"How's it going with Malfoy?"

"Same as usual. Crabbe and Goyle aren't going to be at Hogwarts this year. It just stupid." Hermione laughed and Ron joined her.

"Hermione, if he ever tries to do anything to hurt you, come straight to Harry and me." Ron reassured Hermione as she got up from her seat to leave.

"I can take care of myself Ron, but if I really need you guys then I'll come." She opened the compartment door and stepped outside, "See you at the feast."

"Yeah, see you later." Ron said and heard the door close while turning to face the window again.

Hermione walked back to the Head compartment, making sure everyone she saw was behaving. Harry and Ginny were still locked in their compartment doing who knows what, but Hermione wouldn't get her own friends in trouble.

She thought about what Ron had said. As much as she loved having protective friends that would help her in any situation, they had to learn that she was just as capable of handling a problem as they were. Hermione had faced just as much danger in her life as her friends had, well maybe Harry faced more, but that's beside the point.

Hermione opened her compartment door, noticing Malfoy was still asleep, though not making any attempt to be quiet. The door slammed shut behind her and Hermione couldn't help but laugh at how funny Malfoy looked as he fell to the floor, quite startled.

"What the bloody hell was that for?" He asked loudly, checking his reflection in the window to make sure his hair still looked good.

"I think we're going to be at the school soon so you should get changed, and I didn't mean to wake you anyway." Hermione said. She took her trunk down from the luggage rack and found her school robes within its contents.

"If you're expecting me to leave so you can change then think again." Malfoy said rudely, finding his own robes.

"Well I wasn't. I knew you wouldn't leave so I'm changing in the bathroom." Hermione took her clothes and left the room so Malfoy could change while she was gone too.

Several minutes later she returned to find Malfoy attempting to sleep again. He opened a lazy eye to see if it was Hermione that entered, and then shut it when he saw her.

"Why are you so tired?" Hermione questioned while sitting across from him.

"I was up late last night. Mind your own business mudblood." Malfoy smirked at her disgusted expression, "And I wasn't doing what you think I was doing." He added.  
"Good because I didn't need to hear that." Hermione crossed her arms and looked out of the window.

The train gradually slowed to a stop as it arrived at the Hogsmeade station. Hermione nudged Malfoy awake, much to his displeasure, and the two of them left to escort the other students to the carriages.

Harry and Ginny had rejoined Ron, who Hermione met up with. Harry had his hand on Ginny's waist and Ron looked as if he might murder Harry if he did anything with Ginny in front of him.

"How are you feeling Harry?" Hermione asked, smirking at him.

"Much better. The nurse on the train gave me a potion to make the pain go away." He lied and Ginny smiled at him. Ron however was oblivious to all of this.

Once inside the castle, Professor McGonagall approached Hermione with a message in her hand.

"Miss Granger, this is from the headmaster." She gave the parchment to Hermione who read it quickly. She looked in disbelief at her professor.

"But Professor, the letter I received this summer said nothing about sharing a common room with him!" She exclaimed in disgust.

"That is because it is a secret tradition that we give the Head Boy and Girl their private space. You may share this with your friends if you must, but no one else is supposed to know."

"Excuse me Professor McGonagall," Ron started, trying to comprehend what was happening, "Are you saying that Hermione has to live with Malfoy?!"

"Yes Mr. Weasley, but Miss Granger isn't being forced to get along with Mr. Malfoy, though it would be nice if they both tried to make the best of this situation. I am sorry but it is a Hogwarts tradition." McGonagall stated sternly.

"But—"

"No buts Miss Granger. Your trunk is already in your room, and this letter has the location and password to your common room. I shall see you in class tomorrow, good night." The professor left the group, leaving Hermione in a miserable mood for the feast.


	2. Getting to Know You

Chapter 2: Getting to Know You

Chapter 2: Getting to Know You

Dumbledore gave his usual start of term announcements ending with food magically appearing on the gold plates in front of the students.

Ron immediately shoved as much food in his mouth as possible as Hermione just stared at her empty plate. She didn't have much of an appetite after finding out that she had to share a common room with Draco Malfoy, the conceited, self-centered jerk for a whole school year.

She glanced across the room, her eyes wandering to the Slytherin table where Malfoy was staring off into space as if in deep concentration. Maybe he too was wondering how he would last a year with the one person he despised.

He slowly moved his head to face Hermione and smirked. Hermione shot him a final look of disgust and turned her attention back to her still empty plate.

"Are you feeling okay Hermione?" Ginny asked as her fork rattled against her plate.

Hermione met Ginny's eyes and she understood. "Oh Hermione I'm sure you'll be alright. Just avoid him as much as possible and don't comment on anything he does."

"But what if he ends up pushing my nerves too far? What if I just snap and rip the living daylights out of him?" Hermione asked and both laughed.

"Then, we would have to lock you up in a cage so you don't murder anyone else." Ginny joked. "Listen, if he does anything and you want to tell someone, I'm always here and I won't tell Harry or Ron, or anyone."

Hermione quickly looked to make sure Harry and Ron hadn't heard that. They didn't, seeing as they were in their own world, discussing Quidditch with Neville and Dean.

"Thanks Ginny." Hermione said and finally regained her appetite. She piled some of the left over food onto her plate and began eating.

The rest of the evening was spent talking about everyone's summers and what classes they were taking that year. Hermione had a few more than Harry and Ron, Ginny had dropped out of Divination and Care of Magical Creatures, just as the trio had done the previous year.

The feast ended and the students were sent to their dormitories. Hermione stayed behind seeing as it was her job as Head Girl to make sure there were no problems. Malfoy however left straight for their private dormitory, leaving Hermione to do all of the work.

"Hermione, remember what I said." Ginny whispered to her friend as they said goodnight.

"If anything happens, I'll come straight to you." She said just as quietly. Hermione waved goodbye to her three friends as they departed to head for the Gryffindor tower. Hermione walked by herself to her new dormitory on the third floor.  
She found the correct portrait described in the message from Dumbledore and said the password to it. The common room was decorated as if merging the Gryffindor and Slytherin common rooms and making them smaller. On one half the rooms were red and gold decorations with a warm looking couch. The other half of the room consisted of green and silver objects and had a second couch, this one was black leather. Looking at Slytherin-styled room made Hermione shiver.

There were two doors. One with Hermione's name carved neatly into it, the other with Draco. Hermione stepped into her room and noticed it looked just like her dormitory in the Gryffindor tower, except there was only one bed in the middle of the room. There was a small bathroom off to one side. It had a shower, a bathtub, a toilet, and a sink. There was nothing too special.

Hermione moved back into her room and flopped herself on the bed.

"Err… Granger, we need to talk." A voice said behind her. She rolled over on the bed and saw Malfoy standing nervously in the doorway.

"I know what you're going to say. You don't want to be near me so stay away from you while we have to be in here. Right?" Hermione asked rolling her eyes.

"Actually, no I wasn't." Malfoy smirked and entered her room without being asked to. He sat in the chair at Hermione's desk.

"Then what were you going to say?"

Malfoy looked her in the eye. Hermione noticed there was a bit more warmth in them then usual. "I need to tell you the truth."

"The truth? About what?" Hermione wasn't sure if she wanted to hear what he needed to say.

"I'm just going to talk for a while. You listen and please, don't interrupt me. It will just make me mad." Malfoy told her.

"Okay."

"I can't believe I'm about to do this." He mumbled but Hermione heard him, "My bastard of a father raised me as a snotty, spoiled, muggle and mudblood hating brat. I learned that you were a mudblood, sorry, and I automatically hated you. Once people I see that I hate someone. I can't go back and be friends with that person, even if I really want to."

"What are you saying?" She asked, forgetting about staying silent.

"I said don't talk, just let me explain my story and what I'm trying to get to here." Malfoy insisted but wasn't angry with her, "I realized that even if you weren't pureblood, I still thought you were a great witch and that I should be nice to you. Blood isn't everything. But being me I couldn't just go and become friends with you. I had already shown my original hate for you and everyone would think both of us were terribly ill if we started being nice to each other.

"So, since we are alone and no one can think something is wrong with us, can we just be nice to each other here seeing as I never really wanted to be an ass to you these past years and it would make life a hell of a lot easier while we're together." He concluded and Hermione looked at him rather confused.

"Are you saying that you're sorry for pretty much everything and you want to be friends with me but we have to pretend to hate each other outside of these rooms?" She asked in one long breath.

"Ummm yea. So do you forgive me?" Malfoy questioned, raising an eyebrow at her.

"I guess so, if it will make life easier. But I hardly know anything about you."

"Then we can ask each other some simple questions tonight." He looked at the clock on the wall; they had plenty of time before they would need to sleep.

"You can ask and we can both answer." Hermione repositioned herself on the bed so she was more comfortable.

"Okay, full name?"

"Hermione Jane Granger. You?"

"Just Draco Malfoy. No middle name. Birthday and favorite color?"

"September 19th and blue."

"I thought you would favor red more." Malfoy smirked, "June 5th and green of course. Uhhh… What pisses you off the most?"

"Dishonesty," Hermione looked at him suspiciously as she said this, "And people that aren't what they seem to be."

"Mostly hypocrites," Hermione coughed and Draco continued, "Hey, that's only because of my father, if I was anyone else, I wouldn't be this way. Are you still a virgin?" He smirked, and Hermione looked disgusted.

"Malfoy!" Hermione moved a bit away from him.

"What? I'm a 17 year-old guy what else would you expect?"

"Some respect? Anyway, yes, I still am a virgin. Let's hear about you?"

"Err… no comment?" He looked away.

"Nope, you have to answer. Either you don't want your reputation of being the Slytherin sex god to be denied, or you just regret something."

"Slytherin sex god? Since when did people call me that?" Malfoy looked quite pleased with himself at acquiring that name. It seemed to boost his ego even more.  
"When half the girls at Hogwarts decided that you are quite good looking. Now answer the question."

"Do you think I'm good looking?"

"No, and even if I did, would I tell you?" Hermione said calmly. Draco just continued to smirk.

"I'd tell you if I thought you looked good. So, I'll tell you right now. I think you look good." Draco noticeably checked her out as they sat there, "Oh, and no I'm not a virgin."

"I thought so. Were you attempting to flirt with me?" Hermione followed his eyes as they rested on her chest. She crossed her arms and he looked up at her face.

"Maybe… Maybe not… Well, I must be off. Goodnight Granger, and once we leave here, we're back to hating each other. Deal?"

"Deal." Hermione said as he closed the door behind him, leaving Hermione with many thoughts running through her head. Some were good thoughts, some were not so good.


	3. Why?

Chapter 3: Why

Chapter 3: Why?

Hermione woke up at her usual time. She had a free period this morning, and luckily Ginny did too. She showered and changed into her school robes before going down for breakfast. On the way though, she met Malfoy in the common room.

"Hey." He said looking up from the couch on the Slytherin half of the room.

"Why aren't you at class?" Hermione asked him suspiciously, leaning against her doorframe.

"Because I don't have any class right now." Malfoy informed her, "Same with you?"

"Yeah, I'm going to get some breakfast. See you in class maybe." Hermione wasn't sure she could trust him even if he had that talk with her last night.

"And Granger, Blaise—"

"The Zabini guy?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, him. Blaise is stopping by after classes today. He wanted to see the place. Plus I haven't seen him all summer so we thought we'd catch up on a few things." Draco told her.

"So you want me to act like I still hate you?" Hermione implied, opening the portrait door slightly.

"Umm no actually. He's the only one that knows I'm doing this. As I thought, he thinks I'm going crazy, but he doesn't really care who I talk with or how I act."

"Okay, well I'm hungry so bye." Hermione left their dormitory and made her way to breakfast where she found Ginny sitting alone.

Hermione took a seat next to her at the long Gryffindor table.

"How was day one with Malfoy?" Ginny asked, putting down her pumpkin juice.

"Not what I expected it to be." Hermione admitted and Ginny looked at her as if requesting for her to continue. "Promise you won't tell anyone what I tell you. Neither Malfoy nor I would want the whole school to know that we're actually getting along."

Ginny stared in disbelief, "Sure, I promise. Now explain yourself!"

"Well, last night he came and said a bunch of things like how he can't just become friends with me because that would make everyone think we were crazy. But he's sorry for everything he did and wanted to know if we could be friends in secret or at least act nicer towards each other seeing as it would make life easier when we're together." Hermione explained, remembering the events from the past night.

"Are you sure you can trust him though?"

"I don't know, but I can take a chance can't I?"

Ginny shrugged and continued eating her breakfast as Harry and Ron showed up. Harry gave Ginny a small kiss on the cheek and Ron gave him a dirty look.

"Oh Ron, will you stop doing that whenever I'm with Ginny?" Harry asked, slightly annoyed.

"Sorry, I'm just not used to you going out with her. But please, don't start snagging her in front of me. It would be much appreciated." Ron said, sitting across from Hermione.

"Don't worry, I won't. Plus, you know I would never hurt her." Harry said and hugged Ginny before getting into the seat next to Ron.

Hermione listened to their complaints about having a bunch of classes with the Slytherins for most of the meal. Their first class of the day was transfiguration, with the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins together. She looked at her watch and noticed classes started in five minutes.

"I think we should start leaving, or we'll be late." Hermione interrupted her friends' argument over which broomstick is better.

"Good idea." Harry agreed. He gave Ginny a gentle kiss goodbye and the trio made their way to transfiguration.

They entered the classroom with only a minute to spare and seated themselves near the middle of the room. Malfoy and Blaise came strolling in, seconds before McGonagall herself, and they sat directly behind Hermione, Harry, and Ron.

Professor McGonagall started the class by explaining the importance of N.E.W.T. exams and how much work they will be doing that year. She also went over what material they will be learning about first. Hermione listened intently but as she took her notes she felt as though Malfoy eyes were burning holes through her from behind.

Her stomach flipped as she remembered the way he had done the same thing only the night before. Hermione glanced behind her and sure enough, Malfoy had his gray eyes staring at the back of her head, which was now her face. As his eyes met Hermione's, he slowly averted his gaze to his parchment and began taking notes. Hermione did the same and tried to push his strange behavior out of her mind.

Finally, classes for that day ended and Hermione could lock herself away from Malfoy and his agonizing stares. She said goodbye to Harry and Ron when they needed to go separate ways, and soon found herself entering the Head common room.

"Granger." Hermione heard an unfamiliar voice acknowledging her presence. She looked to her right and found Blaise Zabini, leaving Malfoy room with Malfoy himself not far behind.

"You must be Blaise." Hermione said as she continued toward her own bedroom.

"Yeah, that would be me." Blaise smirked and leaned against the wall in a very Malfoy-ish way.

"Well, you two seem to have much in common. I need to start my essay for Potions, so I'll just go." Hermione said quickly, trying to escape to her room so she wouldn't be tortured by being in the presence of two stuck-up Slytherins.

"Wait, I need to ask you a simple question." Blaise put an arm out to stop her from entering her room.

"If you insist." Hermione gave up after trying finding a way around him. She noticed Malfoy looked uncomfortable too as if he too dreaded the question that was about to be asked.

"What do you think of Draco?" Blaise asked and smirked again. Malfoy stared at him in disbelief and seemed like he would kill his friend if it didn't end him up in Azkaban.

"Umm Blaise—"He started, but Blaise ignored him.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked very confused.

"You know. Is he nice? Smart? Funny? Caring?" Blaise listed different adjectives for Hermione to choose from, "Annoying? Honest? Good looking?" At this one, Hermione felt her stomach turn and her cheeks turn a slight shade of pink. She turned her head and pretended to be looking at a book on the shelf.

"Blaise," Malfoy began, also looking a bit flushed, "You know I'm going to kill you eventually for this?"

"Fine, I'll just have to ask her in private then." Blaise told him slyly and took his arm out of Hermione's way. She pushed past him, quite frustrated, and closed her bedroom door as she dropped her book bag by the door.

Hermione took out a roll of parchment and attempted to start the essay she was assigned for Potions. She couldn't concentrate. All of her thoughts were bringing her to Malfoy and she didn't understand why.

Why was she getting butterflies every time their eyes met? Why were they looking at each other in the first place? Why did both of them blush when Blaise asked if Malfoy looked good? Why had Malfoy admitted that he thought Hermione looked good? Why was everything so complicated??

Hermione sighed in aggravation and threw her head into her folded arms. She really needed to talk to Ginny about this. Hermione knew she was the only friend she could trust to understand her serious problem at the moment.

She took the parchment that was supposed to have her essay on it and wrote a quick letter to Ginny.

Ginny,

We really need to talk about something important. Meet me in the library, and then we can find an empty classroom to talk in. I'll be there in ten minutes.

Hermione

Once she had signed it, Hermione realized she didn't have an owl to send it with and if she wanted to borrow one of the school owls, she would have to go in the direction of the Gryffindor tower. She might as well just get Ginny herself. It would save time.

Hermione made sure Malfoy and Blaise weren't in the common room before she entered it. Much to her delight, they weren't so she continued on her way to find Ginny. She reached the portrait of the Fat Lady and suddenly remembered that she didn't know the password so she would have to wait for Ginny, or at least another Gryffindor to come out or go in.

She waited for almost ten minutes before the portrait hole opened and a small first year boy came out with his friends. Hermione climbed in once all of them were out, and the portrait swung shut behind her. She surveyed the room and couldn't find the redhead in any of the chairs so she started for the Girls dormitories. Before reaching the bottom of the spiral staircase, Hermione saw a flash of red in the corner of her eye. She turned to face the spot it came from and saw that it was in fact Ginny… and Harry… snagging?

Feeling very uncomfortable, Hermione approached her busy friends and coughed. Harry immediately let go of Ginny and stopped kissing her, probably afraid that it was Ron.

"Oh, thank god it was just you Hermione; Ron might have ripped my head off if he saw me doing that." Harry exclaimed, breathing heavily.

"Why don't you two just talk to Ron and knock some sense into him?" Hermione asked, tired that Ron wasn't used to them dating yet.

"We tried. He just needs to get used to it." Ginny said in an aggravated tone, "So, what are you here for?"

"I need to talk to you about something. It's girl stuff Harry so you wouldn't be interested anyway." Hermione added after seeing her friend's expression.

"Sure, I'll be back soon, Harry. Try talking to Ron again, it might work this time." Ginny kissed Harry goodbye and followed Hermione into the corridor.


	4. Feelings

Chapter 4: Feelings

Chapter 4: Feelings

Hermione dragged Ginny into the first empty classroom they passed. Ginny sat on one of the desks but Hermione stayed standing due to her nervousness.

"What's so important that you had to pull me away from Harry?" Ginny asked, slightly annoyed.

Hermione paced the room, contemplating whether telling Ginny would help at all. Finally she agreed that it would.

"Ginny… I think there is something… something seriously wrong with me." She started, finally sitting on the table in front of her friend.

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked, a little confused, "Gosh Hermione, calm down, it can't be the end of the world."

"It seems like it." Hermione mumbled and stared at the stone floor.

Ginny frowned and placed an arm around her friend for comfort. "Just tell me what's wrong and I promise I wont tell anyone if you don't want me to. What's making you act this way?"

"I'm afraid… That I'm falling for someone that I really should hate." Hermione told Ginny slowly. Her redhead friend just laughed to herself.

"Hermione, it can't be that bad. It's not like you're falling in love with Malfoy!" Ginny giggled but stopped when she noticed Hermione wasn't laughing, but was placing her blushing face in her hands, "No… Please tell me you don't like Malfoy!"

"Ginny, you don't know the real person he is!" Hermione exclaimed, feeling tears coming to her eyes, "He's a normal person when it's just us together."

"If you insist. So why do you like him?" Ginny asked, lifting Hermione's head from her hands so she could hear her better.

"I don't really know. I've never felt this way before. I get butterflies when I'm near him, I can't stop looking into his eyes, and it's even stranger that he keeps looking into my eyes too! Last night, he was flirting with me and saying that he thinks I look good! He was even checking me out!" Hermione exclaimed, jumping to her feet again.

Ginny thought for a while before speaking again. It seemed as if she were going over everything Hermione had just said, in her mind.

Finally she opened her mouth to talk. "Well, you two would look good together, and Malfoy is the second best looking guy in your year." She laughed, but Hermione hit her lightly.

"Who's the best looking guy then? Oh and you're not helping much." Hermione stated.

"Harry of course!" Ginny smiled giddily, "So, you like Draco Malfoy, and you think he might like you back, even if it's just a little?" Hermione nodded, "Then, you're not going to like me for saying this, but you're going to have to get close to him and try flirting with him. Also, you could start dressing in more revealing clothes or wearing more make up than a barely noticeable lip gloss!"

"No, I can't flirt! I can't be girly and wear makeup! And most definitely I'm not going to start dressing like Parkinson!" Hermione nearly yelled. If dressing like Pansy was the only way to get Malfoy attention, then she didn't need him.

"I never said you had to dress like her!" Ginny said in disgust, "I meant stop wearing sweaters and baggy jeans all of the time! You need to wear clothes that fit you perfectly and show off your body."

"Ginny, stop pretending that I look good." Hermione complained, looking at her reflection in one of the windows.

"I'm not pretending. Malfoy, the guy that only thinks about girls that are as hot as he is, told you to your face that you're good looking!" Ginny informed her friend, who smiled to herself.

"So you're saying I should just act like you?" Now it was Hermione's turn to laugh.

"Hey! I don't flirt with anyone!"

"You sure did before you went and flirted with Harry until he was head-over-heels in love with you!" Hermione said honestly, causing Ginny to cross her arms trying to deny it.

"Fine, then act like me." Ginny finally said after arguing over whether or not she flirted a lot, "I can come to your dormitory and pick out clothes and makeup for you. Can we do it now?"

"Uhhh sure. What about Harry though?" Hermione asked, wondering if Harry could go more than two hours without seeing his girlfriend.

"He'll be fine, let's go." Ginny said and followed Hermione to the Head dormitories.

"Draco, will you stop trying to hide the fact that you like Granger!" Blaise Zabini exclaimed for the millionth time.

"Will you shut the hell up Zabini!" Draco yelled at his friend, "Get it through your head, I don't have any feelings for her and I never will! I was just trying to make the year a whole lot easier by being nice to her."

"Yeah, well you should have seen the way you were staring at her during History of Magic." Blaise continued, causing Draco to glare at him.

"I wasn't staring at her! Maybe it was the fact that her head was in my direct view!" Draco yelled again, his pulse rising, "There are things in my life that would never allow me to fall for Granger." He concluded, "Now, get out of my room and quite bugging me about her, because I don't like her."  
But Blaise didn't move. "Not until you admit it." He insisted.

"How many bloody times do I dare need to tell you?! I never have and never will have any feelings for the mudblood Granger!"

"Admit it, I know you like her!" Blaise persisted, his feet still planted to the ground.

"Get out, or I will throw you out." Draco told him, trying to stay calm. He couldn't hold his rage in much longer though, and when Blaise opened his mouth to repeat himself, Draco lost control. "I DON'T FUCKING LIKE GRANGER!" He screamed as his fist collided with Blaise nose.

Blaise was hit so hard that he fell backwards and into Draco hard, wood door. The door wasn't closed as they thought it had been so Blaise ended up in a bloody mess on the common room floor. One of his hands was clutched tightly on his broken nose to slow the bleeding as he reached for his wand. The color drained from Draco face as he realized what he had done to his best friend. Hopefully Granger hadn't heard them, but when he saw her door open he figured she had gone somewhere.

Blaise muttered a spell to stop his nose from gushing blood, and soon it stopped. He glared at Draco with hate flashing through his eyes.

"All you had to do was say you liked her." Blaise said in a cold voice before heading for the exit.

"Damn it Blaise! She's just a friend! I don't even know if she is a friend, and I will never like her the way you think I do." Draco told him before slamming the portrait door on him.

It reopened just seconds later, causing Draco to groan. How did Blaise find out the password? Draco was shocked and relieved to find that it wasn't Blaise, but Granger, followed closely by Mini Weasley. Both of them were looking confused and a little freaked out. They probably passed Blaise in the corridor.

"Malfoy, what happened to Blaise?" Hermione asked quite shaken after seeing a puddle of blood on the floor.

"We err… had a fight. Don't worry he's fine." Malfoy said while cleaning the mess up with his wand.

"You must have hit him pretty hard!" Ginny exclaimed, "He was whimpering like a little girl when we passed him!"

"Thanks." Malfoy said sarcastically, "He just wouldn't stop bugging me about something and I just snapped."

"Try not to snap again. I heard you yelling about something, and I'd rather not have to witness it in person. It's kind of scary coming in here to see blood all over." Hermione could feel the butterflies coming. She needed to leave before she did anything stupid.

"Did you err… happen to hear what we were yelling about?" Malfoy asked, hoping she hadn't. The next thing he needed was to fall madly in love with someone he hated for the past six years.

"No, I didn't. Why?"  
"Nothing, I was just wondering." Malfoy said, staring at something on the floor, "I should go start some homework. See you later." He picked a book off of a small table and closed the door behind him as he entered his room.

"Well, that was interesting." Ginny said, walking into Hermione's own room.

"It was. Did you hear what he was yelling about?" Hermione asked curiously and raised an eyebrow. Ginny had always had excellent hearing.

"In fact, I did." Ginny smirked and sat on the edge of the bed.

"What were they arguing about?" Hermione asked, not knowing what the answer would be.

"You."


	5. I Can't Do This

Chapter 5: I Can't Do This

Chapter 5: I Can't Do This

Hermione stared at Ginny in disbelief, wondering what Malfoy was saying about her.

"Are you sure you heard my name?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, I heard it loud and clear. You just don't have hearing as good as mine." Ginny laughed as she tried to remember exactly what Malfoy had yelled.

"Well, what did he scream about me?" Hermione questioned nervously.

"I think I remember it word-for-word but I'm not sure." Ginny said and paused to get the message straight. Hermione watched her intently, "It was something like 'I don't fucking like Granger'." Hermione frowned at these words.

"Ginny that's horrible. He'll never like me the way I like him!" Hermione cried and Ginny shook her head, grinning.

"Hermione I'd bet you anything that Blaise kept asking him if he liked you and Malfoy just kept denying it. What would make Blaise ask Malfoy a thousand times if he liked you? Malfoy must have done something or said something that gave it away!"

"Are… Are you sure?" Hermione asked, not wanting false hope.

"Positive. Now let's pick some clothes out for you." Ginny said and immediately started going through Hermione's closet.

Draco sat on his bed after he entered his room. He couldn't understand what was happening to him. Was Blaise right? Did he have feelings for Granger? No. He wasn't supposed to and he sure wouldn't want to end up hurting anyone. But why couldn't he stop thinking about her?

Moving to his desk, Draco decided that he wasn't going to think of Granger in a more-than-friends way. He was sure she didn't like him back, but even if she did, he couldn't date her.

Hermione entered Potions the next morning followed closely by Harry and Ron. Both of them had bugged her about what she had to talk to Ginny about the previous day. The first few times she replied by stating that it was girl stuff and they wouldn't be interested but when they said they didn't care if it was 'girl stuff' Hermione just ignored them until they gave up.

The trio seated themselves in the back of the room as Snape walked in from his office. He was carrying a square piece of parchment, which he stuck to the wall of the dungeon.

"As you know, this is your final year at Hogwarts and you will be taking your N.E.W.T exams towards the end of the year. I have come up with a seating chart so that you will be seated next to someone with equal potion making skills." Snape pointed to the parchment and Hermione could see a list of names though she could not distinguish which they were. "These pairings will allow you to work more efficiently and at the same place as your partner. So, I will read off the pairings and I don't want to hear any complaints."

Snape began calling out the pairs when Hermione realized who she would end up with. She felt her stomach flip and she started to feel her face grow warmer. They were both Heads. Obviously they had almost the same grades.

"…Potter and Parkinson…" Snape read off the list. Harry's mouth fell. Surely he was smarter than her. This was probably Snape way of tormenting him. "Thomas and Weasley…" He said and Ron sighed in relief.

Now it was just Hermione and Malfoy, which indeed were the final pair that Snape called off the list. Hermione glanced at her new partner from across the room and saw him twitch slightly in his seat before the class stood up and rearranged themselves next to their partners.

The lesson seemed to last forever once Hermione and Draco started working together. Hermione couldn't keep her hands steady. This was the first time she had gotten out of sorts over a guy. After dropping her third glass vile, Hermione couldn't tell whether Malfoy was faking his laughter at her nervousness or was actually amused by her clumsiness while he was near her.

"Stop making fun of me!" Hermione pleaded quietly, bending over to clean the pieces of glass.

"Do I really make you that nervous Granger?" Malfoy smirked, causing Hermione to shoot him a dirty look.

"I'd be sick because of you, not nervous." Hermione told him coldly, "And I'm not nervous, just shaky seeing as I don't feel very well." She lied.

"Whatever you say…"

"Ginny, I can't do this!" Hermione exclaimed, throwing herself onto Ginny's bed.

"Do what?" Ginny asked, flopping down next to her.

"I can't have a crush on Malfoy anymore. I can't think straight or act normal when I'm around him! I have to restrain myself from throwing my arms around him. I've never felt this way before and I don't like it. I hate it! I hate him!" Hermione told Ginny.

"You say you hate him but inside you love him. I can tell."

"Is it really that obvious that I like him?!" Hermione gasped and sat straight up on the bed.

Ginny gasped in imitation of Hermione, "No, not really!" she exclaimed in the same voice, causing Hermione to throw a pillow at her head.

"Shut up Ginny." Hermione groaned, "I just wish that we could be together. If he liked me as much as I like him, and Harry and Ron would have to accept that we were dating. They would send daggers at me the moment they were to find out."

"No they wouldn't." Ginny reassured her, "At least, not if I chain them to a tree."

"You're not making the situation any better…" Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Yeah well I've always taken chances and made the first move with the guy. Maybe you need to."

"No thanks. He would probably think I'm a freak." Hermione stood up and made her way to the door, "See you around."

"Take the chance"

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes!"

"Maybe…"

"Good." Ginny smiled and watched Hermione walk quickly out of the dormitory.

"Zabini?" Draco called, trying to catch up with Blaise who was ignoring him, "Blaise just let me talk to you for a few seconds." Draco stepped in front of Blaise but he kept walking.

"It's about our conversation yesterday before I got mad at you." Blaise stopped at these words.

"So you do like her?" He smirked and the pair stepped into an empty classroom. "I knew you did."

"I can't like her though! She's a brainy mudblood that had huge hair for the majority of her life!" Draco exclaimed, leaning casually against the wall with his arms crossed, "Maybe I only like her because she's falling for me…"  
"She is?"

"You should see how shaky and nervous she was in potions this morning. I've never seen Granger like that before. And she's always avoiding eye contact with me when I talk to her in the common room. Don't you think that means she likes me?" Draco asked and Blaise considered what he had said.

"Probably." Blaise said after a few seconds. "So are you going to talk to her? Go out with her?"

"I…I can't…" Draco sighed causing his friend to raise an eyebrow. "Oh don't give me that! You know why!"

"Oh because of Pansy right?"

"Yeah because of— Wait no! Do you ever use your brain dumbass?" Draco smacked Zabini on the back of the head. Blaise stared into space, trying to find the real reason. Finally it clicked.

"Because of you-know-who? And by that I don't mean the Dark Lord."

"Ummm yea, so you see why I can't go out with Granger?" Draco asked quietly.

"No, but that's not going to change your mind is it?"

"Not at all…"


	6. Hope

Chapter 6: Hope

Chapter 6: Hope

A few weeks passed and Hermione was still ignoring Ginny's advice. Malfoy probably just thought she looked good, but wanted nothing to do with her. Even if they did share a common room, Hermione would barely talk to Malfoy. Both of them had so much work that they were trapped at their desks writing fifty essays a week, or so it seemed.

Every once in a while Malfoy would start cursing at his parchment due to the mistakes he made while writing. Hermione couldn't help but laugh at how funny it was to watch him yell at an inanimate object which would cause Malfoy and her to hold small but precious conversations. Hermione took in every word he said and watched his every move. It was terrible how obsessed she was with him, and how little he showed any feelings for her.

Potions classes were calming down and Hermione was able to concentrate on her work without Malfoy trying to flirt with her anymore. Luckily, they had been seated at a desk in the back corner of the room where no one could see or hear that they were having civilized discussions about each other's interests. Soon they knew the other pretty well and knew what upset them, and how to make them laugh. Ginny was impressed by how Hermione was getting close to him without Malfoy realizing that she was head-over-heels for him.

The first trip to Hogsmeade was announced for that Saturday. Obviously Hermione was going with Ginny, Ron, and Harry. The group left the castle around mid-day and set off towards the small wizarding town. Harry placed his arm securely around Ginny's waist, causing Ron to roll his eyes and Hermione to frown, wishing it were her and Malfoy instead.

"So Hermione, how has life with Malfoy been for the first few weeks?" Ron asked, trying to ignore Harry as he whispered something in Ginny's ear, making her giggle.

"Not so bad. We mostly stay in our own rooms, and I rarely see him leaving or going to classes while I'm in the common room." Hermione lied, not looking at Ron directly.

"Good. Remember what Harry and I told you. If you need us, we're here for you." Ron smiled and Hermione faked a return smile.

The rest of the way was silent except for Ginny's giggling and Harry's almost silent whispering. Finally, the four students entered the Three Broomsticks and sat in a booth near the back of the pub.

Hermione and Ron sat opposite of Ginny who had seated herself on Harry's lap instead of the seat itself. Madame Rosmerta came around several minutes later.

"What would you four like today?" She asked, looking around the table.

"We'll take four butterbeers, thanks." Ron told the pub owner, who waved her wand and four drinks appeared.

"Ron, why don't you let Harry and Ginny order for their selves!" Hermione exclaimed but when she looked up from her drink she noticed they were too busy with their mouths glued together to talk. "Oh, I see."

"Err… Harry? Ginny? Do you think you could do that somewhere a little more private?" Ron asked, tapping Harry on the shoulder. Harry didn't budge from his position, neither did Ginny.

"Don't pay attention to them Ron. They just don't get enough of that in the common room." Hermione laughed and Ron finally took his gaze off of his little sister.

The two had a light conversation about the strange creatures they were introduced to in Defense Against the Dark Arts, the previous day. Finally Harry and Ginny broke apart.

"When did the drinks come?" Harry asked, out of breath.

"Ten minutes ago, while you two were glued together." Hermione laughed. She looked up just in time to see Malfoy enter the pub with Blaise and Pansy. He sat facing her direction, but luckily didn't notice Hermione watching his every move.

"Hermione… Hermione?!" Ginny kicked her friend in the shin from under the table.

"What?! Oh… sorry. I was thinking about something." Hermione lied and quickly averted her eyes once Malfoy gaze met hers.

"We were thinking of going back to the castle. Harry, Ron, and I have Quidditch practice later and we need to be back in time." Ginny said, standing up and grabbing her jacket.  
"But we just got here." Hermione complained, even though she knew they had to go.

"There will be other visits to Hogsmeade soon." Ron reassured her.

The group slowly headed for the exit of the pub, Harry with his arm around Ginny again, and Ron and Hermione silently following them.

They reached the castle within half an hour and Hermione was left alone once her friends departed for practice. Hermione couldn't find anyone in the hallways so she decided that she could find someone to talk to in the library. No one was there either, well except for Madame Prince. All of the students seemed to be at Hogsmeade, and the younger students were probably hanging out in their common rooms.

Hermione gave up her search and returned to her own common room to read her transfiguration book. She took the book carefully off of the towering shelf and seated herself on the couch only to shriek and jump right back off.

"Bloody hell Granger! Do you enjoy tormenting me while I'm asleep?" An aggravated and tired Malfoy said from the ground where he had fallen off the couch.

"I'm sorry Dra— I mean Malfoy. I didn't—"

"Did you just almost call me Draco?" Malfoy asked, slightly surprised.

"I don't know why I did it. It just came out." Hermione said quickly.

"Whatever you say Hermione…" Malfoy smirked and crossed his arms.

"So why are you back from Hogsmeade already?" Hermione changed the subject, sitting comfortably next to him on the couch.

"Because Blaise asked Pansy out and they started doing things that I really, really didn't want to see." He said, and rolled his eyes just as Hermione had done when Harry and Ginny started snagging in the Three Broomsticks. "Why are you back?"

"My friends had Quidditch practice."

"I see. How come you were never interested in flying?" Malfoy raised an eyebrow.

"I'm… I'm afraid of heights. Stop laughing!" Hermione kicked him from across the large leather couch but he just continued laughing. Hermione glared at him and he stopped almost immediately.

"Sorry, it's just that after everything you, Potter, and Weasley have been through, you're afraid of heights?"

"Yes, now stop making fun of me." Hermione said angrily and crossed her arms around her middle. "Aren't you Slytherin Quidditch captain?"

"That would be me, yes." Malfoy said in a bragging voice.  
"Have you been playing your whole life?"

"Ever since I could walk." He answered without thinking about the question. He must have been asked these a ton of times.

"Do you think you'll become a professional player after Hogwarts?" Hermione inquired. He did have the right body type; he could easily make some of the teams too.

"No, I was thinking of maybe teaching potions or something." Malfoy had taken Hermione aback by this statement.

"I never thought you would like working with children and even if it would be mostly teenagers like us." Hermione concluded.

"I said maybe. So are you ticklish?" Malfoy asked.

"That wasn't random." Hermione said sarcastically.

"We'll we're asking questions about each other. I just want to know. Are you ticklish?" Malfoy repeated his first question.

"Yes. But I wont tell you where!" Hermione exclaimed, bringing her knees to her chest.

"Then… I'll just have to find out for myself." Malfoy smirked and immediately started tickling Hermione.

At first she sat with a bored expression on her face as Malfoy poked at random places in her sides, but when he reached the spot right under her ribs, Hermione had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing. Unfortunately Malfoy noticed this and kept tickling her at that spot until she burst out laughing.

"So that's the spot?" He asked, still tickling her.

"Yes! Now… Stop!" Hermione was laughing too hard to repeat herself.

She tried to tickle him back but it was hard with her laughter preventing her from moving her muscles. Malfoy had pinned her beneath him, though he was supporting his own weight with his free arm. He slowly stopped tickling Hermione and stared into her mysterious brown eyes.

'This would be the perfect time for you to go and kiss me_._' Hermione thought as she looked back into his gray eyes.

His lips seemed to have collided with hers in slow motion and soon all Hermione cared about at that moment was staying in that passionate kiss with Draco Malfoy forever.

Just as soon as the kissing started, it stopped, much to Hermione's dislike. Malfoy quickly got off of her and turned to face away from the confused Hermione.

"I shouldn't have done that." He said quietly and stared at his feet.  
"I didn't mind—"

"That's the problem… Neither did I. And I shouldn't have feelings like that." He slowly turned around.

"I don't understand. Why not?" Hermione tried to make eye contact but Draco continued to look at the floor.

"I'm really sorry Hermione, but I can't be with you or even have feelings for you." Draco explained, "I already have a girlfriend."

Hermione could feel the tears rushing to her eyes. "Is that what you do? You flirt and say nice things about a girl until she falls for you even if she hates you, and then you kiss her and decide that after all that, it's the right time to tell her that you already have a girlfriend and can't be with her. Is that how you are?"

"Hermione, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to get that far! I didn't mean for any of this to happen and I hope you can forgive me." Draco went to take a step closer to her but she moved further away.

"I don't want to talk about it anymore." Hermione said and wiped the tears out of her eyes. "I didn't think I could hate you any more than I did before we became friends. I was wrong."

With those final words, Hermione rushed into her room and slammed her door in Draco face. Her one glimmer of hope that she could ever be with him had just been destroyed.


	7. Potion Problems

Chapter 7: Potion Problems

Chapter 7: Potion Problems

"Ginny it was terrible!" Hermione sobbed once she was alone in Ginny's dormitory. She had shut herself inside her own room until after dinner. When she knew Draco had probably gone down to eat, Hermione went and waited for Ginny in her dormitory.

"What happened?!" Ginny exclaimed and placed a comforting arm around Hermione.

"He was tickling me and the next thing I knew, we were kissing—"

"That's terrible?" Ginny raised an eyebrow. Since when was kissing terrible?

"No. That was the good part." Hermione let out a small laugh through her sniffles. "In the middle of the kiss he stopped and I thought I did something wrong."

"And did you?" Ginny asked and Hermione shook her head.

"He said he shouldn't have don't that be-because he already has a girlfriend!" Hermione cried and placed her tear-streaked face in her shaky hands.

"That arrogant jerk!" Ginny exclaimed angrily. "How dare he mess with my Hermione's heart!"

"I wouldn't have cared if he didn't kiss me and I would go on hoping for him to fall for me too, but he had to go and ruin it, leaving me with a broken heart and the strong desire to murder him." Hermione laughed, wiping her eyes.

"Well, when he and his girlfriend break up I bet you're next in line." Ginny smiled reassuringly.

"I don't know if I want to bother with him anymore. What if he does something like that again?"

"Then I'll be here to beat the life out of him. Was he a good kisser?" Ginny asked curiously.

"Ginny!" Hermione hit her friend lightly.

"Was he though?" Ginny persisted. Hermione stayed silent for a few seconds trying to remember the kiss.

"Yes, but I'm not going into details." Hermione blushed.

"Good, I'd rather not hear what you two did."

"I think I'm going to go back to my dormitory. I've had a rough day."

"Okay, and if you see Malfoy, ignore him so that he realizes he's hurt you badly. Only accept his apologies when he starts to get desperate for you to stop and go back to the way things were. Got it?" Ginny explained her plan to Hermione.

"I got it. Thanks so much Ginny. You're the greatest friend I could ask for."

"No problem."

"Blaise, I really screwed up this time." Draco groaned as he entered the empty Slytherin common room during dinner.

"What did you do?" Blaise rolled his eyes.

"Hermione probably hates me now. I kissed her and then I told her that I have a girlfriend already."

"The Beaux batons girl you and I were talking about earlier right?" Blaise asked trying to clarify the information.

"Yeah, Dominique, but I don't know what to do now. I'm not even sure if I feel the same way about her as I did when we first started dating. It's as if I'm torn between her and Hermione and I could either stay with Dominique or attempt to win Hermione's trust back and go out with her in secret or something." Draco explained, weighing his two choices.

"How do you know Hermione wants to go out with you now?"

"I don't. It's just I don't think it's that easy to forget about someone that you had fallen for."

"Stop, you're getting all emotional over girls. Snap out of it." Blaise waved his hand in front of Draco's eyes as if he were in a trance.

"It's just I've never felt this feeling before and I don't know what to do about it."

"Don't ask me, how would I know what to do?" Blaise laughed to himself. "How was the snag though?"

"Who said we snagged?" Draco asked curiously.

"This is Draco Malfoy I'm talking about. The guy that can't give a girl a kiss without ending up attacking her mouth and being all over her." He pointed out.

"Fine. It was good until I came back to reality and realized I already had a girlfriend." Draco admitted and looked at the dungeon door to see Pansy and a few of her friends walk in from the Great Hall. He decided it would be better to leave now before Blaise and her started eating each other's faces, so he said goodbye and returned to his own common room.

He met Hermione as he rounded the corner near the portrait hole. Trying to find the right words to say, Draco opened his mouth but Hermione completely ignored him and closed the portrait so that it smacked him in the face.

Frustrated, Draco rubbed his nose and decided a walk on the Hogwarts grounds might be better.

He exited the castle and made his way to the side of the lake. Startling him, he saw two people were already sitting at the edge of the water.

"What are you doing here?" One of the two asked. Draco lit his wand and recognized the faces of Harry and Ginny.

"I can't go for a walk Potter but you and mini Weasley can?" Draco sneered. "I've had a lot on my mind and I needed to think it over, alone." He glanced at Ginny when he said this and she glared angrily at him. Hermione probably told her already.

"Well we're already here so go find another place to think." Ginny said rudely. Draco shrugged and walked to the other side of the grounds where he wouldn't be bothered by anyone.

He found a bench in the courtyard by the green houses and sat down after turning his wand light out. He didn't know whether he should keep dating Dominique and forget about Hermione, or break up with his girlfriend and ask Hermione out. What if he went along with the second plan and Hermione didn't want to forgive him, then what would he do?

Draco cursed to himself as he realized how big of a mess he had gotten himself into. Why did he have to fall for the mudblood, the one girl he hated the most? And worse, why did she have to fall for him too?

Hermione had successfully ignored Draco for the first half of the week, but Thursday morning was the first potions class since the previous week and there would be no way to avoid Draco. Entering the dungeon, Hermione took her seat next to Draco in the back of the class. She could feel his eyes on her, and as she turned to give him the look meaning 'get your eyes off of me or I'll hex you into a million pieces' Draco opened his mouth in attempt to say something to her again but gave up and set his gaze on the front of the room once again.

Snape placed all the ingredients for that day's potion at the front of the room with the directions written on the black board. The class was to create the antidote for a very powerful sleeping potion.

The sound of bubbling cauldrons filled the room as the students started working. Hermione was already half done with her potion when she smelled something very bad coming from Draco cauldron.

"Shit! What the hell did I do wrong?!" Draco exclaimed to himself while peering into his cauldron, then comparing it to Hermione's.

"You stirred it one time too many before adding the powdered unicorn horn." Hermione told him without looking at him, let alone stopping what she was doing.

"I wasn't asking you." Draco grunted while using his wand to stop the smell.

"Next time, don't add the dragon scales before the willow root." Hermione ignored his last comment.

"Granger, just shut up for once."

"Don't tell me what to do!" exclaimed Hermione, quite offended.

"Hypocrite!" Draco coughed, causing Hermione to frown.

"Well maybe if you had done the potion right in the first place I wouldn't have had to help you."

"Yeah, but I didn't ask for your help so just mind your own business!" Draco said loudly, his anger increasing.

"Then who were you asking? Does Draco Malfoy talk to himself?" Hermione annoyingly replied.

"I didn't mean to say it out loud. I was thinking it, not talking to myself, you know-it-all mudblood!" He yelled at her, causing tears to form in Hermione's eyes.

"Just forget it! I was trying to help and you have to be your arrogant self and turn it into a huge argument!"

"So you think I'm arrogant again? You didn't feel that way the other day, did you?" Draco smirked.

"Now isn't the time to talk about that, so now it's your turn to shut up! You're a selfish, conceited, arrogant little jerk and I can't deal with it anymore!" Hermione yelled, gaining the attention of the class.

"Yeah, well you're just a fucking brainy mudblood! No wonder no one likes you!" Draco yelled insultingly. Many in the class gasped at what he had just said.

Hermione looked like she was about to strangle Draco. She took a few steps towards him before being held back by Harry and Ron, who she fought to break free from. They were too strong for her so she used her foot to kick over Draco cauldron so that it spilled all over him, along with a very disgruntled Snape who had moved next to him seconds before getting covered in the nasty green colored potion.

"Miss Granger! Mr. Malfoy! Detention, both of you! Tomorrow night meet me in my office and I'll give you your assignment." Snape yelled over the class laughter. "This mess better is gone by the time class ends Granger or it will be two detentions. And let go of her Weasley, she wouldn't want to harm Malfoy now or three detentions would be in order." Snape smirked before using his wand to clean his robes, and then walked back to the front of the room. "Everyone get back to work. If I hear one sound you're all getting detention!"


	8. Detention with Draco

Chapter 8: Detention with Draco

Chapter 8: Detention with Draco

"Hermione, what happened to you?" Ginny asked upon meeting up with her friend after classes.

"Draco Malfoy happened. That's what." Hermione mumbled as though she would kill him if he said another word to her.

"What did he do this time?" Ginny rolled her eyes, sitting next to Hermione in the empty Head common room. Draco was at Quidditch practice as far as Hermione knew.

"We started fighting over something stupid in potions today; he called me a mudblood a few times and insulted him as well. It was bound to happen though, seeing as we sit next to each other in that class…" Hermione confessed quietly. "We have detention tomorrow night with Snape."

"Well, if he leaves you two alone then maybe you can work something out and he'll tell you how he dumped his girlfriend and you both will live happily ever after. The end." Ginny made up the fantasy causing Hermione to smile for once.

"I doubt that. Anyway how can I go back to that after building up all this hate towards him."

"Just wait for him to come running back to you like I said the other day."

"What if he hates me—"Hermione was cut off by the portrait hole opening and an exhausted Draco stumbling into the room. He looked surprised to see Ginny and Hermione there and assumed they were talking about him.

"Sorry… I'll err just go now." Draco said pointing to his door.

"Good. You should be sorry." Ginny said rudely, but not looking at him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He snapped angrily but changed his mind, "You know what, and forget it. I'll be in my room. Don't talk to me."

Draco shut his door and Ginny put a silencing charm on it so that he wouldn't be able to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"I doubt that he hates you. It's not like he looked mad at you when he saw you." Ginny reassured Hermione.

"No, that little flicker of hate in his eye wasn't directed toward me at all." Hermione sighed sarcastically. She took a pillow off the couch and threw it at Ginny for her stupidity.

"Fine. He's only mad though because you purposely dumped the potion on his perfect robes and ruined his hair for what? Five minutes?" Ginny rolled her eyes. She was right though, Draco had to always look perfect, though he wasn't very perfect and neither was Hermione.

Hermione approached Snape office the following night, Draco walking closely behind. She didn't know what he was going to make them do. She didn't want to know.

"Granger, Malfoy." Snape acknowledged their presence as they entered the room filled with jars of green liquid and different animal parts. "Your detention tonight will be served in the dark forest. I have run low on my supply of silver wood needles and for me to go into the forest for this ingredient would be a waste of time so I decided that you two should find it for me."

"How are we supposed to find these?" Draco asked, picking up the few that Snape had left.

"You know what they look like and they are found close to where the path ends in the forest. I advise that you two stay together and bring me the needles in the morning." Snape smiled wickedly before sending them on their way to find the ingredient.

Hermione and Draco walked silently into the forest and lit their wands. Neither of them made any noise or looked at the other. They just wanted to get this over with, with as little pain as possible. Half an hour into the darkness of the trees, the pair hit a fork in the path.

"Snape didn't say anything about two paths did he?" Hermione broke the silence nervously.

"No, I don't think he did. I say we go this way and if we get to the end and there aren't any of those needle things then we turn back and try the other way." Draco stepped onto the left path. Hermione shrugged and followed close behind him.

As soon as they had taken the left path, they had lost it. Hermione stopped in her tracks and looked around. Had the left way even been a path? Was it just an emptier section that had looked like a path?

"Nice job Draco. We're lost and there's no path anywhere around us." Hermione groaned and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Don't blame me. You're the one that pointed out the fork in the path! I didn't even see it until you said something." Draco retorted looking around him.

"Well then you chose the one that you didn't even think was a path?" Hermione asked. She suddenly felt a cool breeze and shivered. The trees had parted slightly and Hermione could see dark clouds in the night sky.

"Are you cold? I'll give you my jacket if you want." Draco asked quietly.

"No I'm fine. It was just the wind." She replied coldly, not wanting anything of his, "Let's just find the path and get out of here."

They stayed close together as they backtracked through the forest. After an hour they still hadn't found the original path. Draco checked his watch. It was almost midnight.

"Granger it's really late. What are we supposed to do if we can't find the path again?" Draco spoke.

"Then, I kill you and use the smell of your remains to attract the centaurs so that they can give me a ride back to the school."

"Okay. — Wait what did you just say?" Draco asked as if he were just in a trance.

"Never mind. You just don't listen do you?"

"Sorry, I just zoned out for a few seconds."

"I don't know what we're going to do. You're the one that got us into this mess in the first place." Hermione mumbled but Draco understood.

"You're not going to start this crap again are you?" Draco groaned, stopping in a small clearing.

"But you did start it. You should have read the directions of the potion right and this wouldn't have happened." Hermione shivered involuntarily again as she felt a drop of water hit her arm. She didn't notice it though.

"I'm not perfect Granger! Is that what you want to hear? I messed up, okay. I can't beperfect like you! You always do everything right and always need to be your best. I'm just sick of it!" Draco yelled at Hermione before walking to the other edge of the clearing and sitting down on a tree stump. He also didn't notice the rain slowly starting to fall.

"I'm not perfect." Hermione whispered, wiping a tear from her eyes. More drops fell and this time both of them realized it.

"What did you say?"

"I said… I'm not perfect. I never give others a chance. I'm always trying too hard to be the best and I don't pay attention to how anyone feels apart from myself. You were right the other day; I am just a brainy little mudblood." Hermione sighed and sat on the damp grass, keeping distance between her and Draco.

"I didn't mean that though. It just came out of my mouth." Draco admitted, noticing Hermione shiver again. The rain began to come down harder and Draco saw that it was a little later than one in the morning.

"Hermione, I don't think we're going to get back to the castle tonight. We're going to have to stay in the forest overnight." Draco stood up and put out his hand for Hermione to take. "We better get under some trees so the rain isn't as hard."  
Hermione grabbed his strong hand and was pulled to her feet. They walked into the dark forest once again but the trees barely made any difference. The rain was still pouring down on them.

"The trees aren't helping much." Draco attempted to smirk but it seemed like the rain had created a bad mood. "You can try sleeping if you want and I'll make sure no creatures come or anything."

"I know a charm create a barrier around us while we're here. Creatures wont be able to see that we're here." Hermione took out her wand and whispered the spell under her breath. A glowing blue dome lingered around them for several seconds before disappearing.

"I don't think it worked…" Draco said looking around.

"No it did. You expect a creature to not notice a blue dome?" Hermione laughed and lay down on the wet grass. She was already wet so it didn't matter to her anyway.

Draco didn't bother replying. He sat next to her in silence. Hermione's eyes started drooping and soon enough she was asleep. He saw her shiver once again in the ice-cold rain.

"Good night Hermione." He whispered as he gently placed his jacket over her frozen body before falling asleep himself.


	9. Avoilding and Explanations

Chapter 9: Avoiding and Explanations

Chapter 9: Avoiding and Explanations

The sun shone brightly through Hermione's eyelids several hours later. She carefully opened them to find that it was morning and the rain had finally stopped. Attempting to sit up, Hermione felt the weight of something wrapped around her small waist. She smiled inwardly as she realized that it was Draco arm. Apparently it had found it's way around her during the night, along with his jacket.

Hermione heard him groan as he opened his eyes to face the sun. Noticing that his arm was around her, Draco quickly sat up, his face turning a light shade of pink.

"I err… Well I didn't mean to… My arm just… Sorry." Draco struggled with the words, seeming awfully embarrassed of what had happened.

"It's okay." Hermione mumbled, wanting his arm back where it had been. "Here's your coat." She picked it off of her body and tossed it to him.

"I think the path was this way, or at least the school is." Draco suggested, pointing into the forest.

"Okay, but if you're wrong…" Hermione told him. She definitely didn't want to be in the forest any longer than she had to now.

The pair set off and eventually found the path along with the silver wood needles. By the time they reached the castle it was noon already. Draco and Hermione stopped at Snape office before returning to their common room. He wouldn't be happy with them being late.

"Professor, we have the ingredient you asked us to find you." Hermione said timidly as she and Draco entered the office.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I do remember saying bring them in the morning." Snape glanced at the clock on the wall. "It's no longer morning."

"Sir we just arrived back from the forest. We err… Well we got lost." Draco said quickly before Snape could yell at them.

"Next time, try to be a bit smarter. Now return to your dormitories if you will." Snape drawled before closing the door behind them and returning to his work.

"That wasn't as bad as I imagined it would be." Hermione whispered as they reached the bottom of the marble staircases. Draco stayed silent. "Are you alright?" She asked and noticed something different in his eyes. They didn't seem cold anymore, but were filled with confusion and sadness.

"Sorry, I just… I just have a lot on my mind right now." He mumbled and stared off into the distance, not looking at anything really.

Hermione and Draco parted when they stepped into the common room. Draco locked himself in his room while Hermione sat gazing into the hypnotizing flames of the fireplace.

Ginny was told every detail from the second Hermione and Draco left the castle to the moment they parted in the common room. She was sure that Draco still had some sort of feelings for Hermione and that eventually they would get together. The only problem was that he hadn't said a single word to Hermione in two weeks following their detention.

Hermione was worried. Every time they were in the same room, Draco would either leave or stay as far from her as possible. Potions classes were silent between them and when Hermione would glance at Draco she would see the same strange look in his emotion-filled eyes.

"Gryffindor and Slytherin are having a small practice game tonight. Do you want to come?" Ginny asked Hermione after classes on Friday afternoon.

"I don't know. I never really found Quidditch that exciting." Hermione sighed, holding her head up with her hand.

"But it's Slytherin, and you know what that means." Ginny smiled and nodded across the Great Hall to the Slytherin table.

"What's the point though? He's been avoiding me for the past two weeks and I have no idea why." She said sadly, staring at the back of Draco head.

"Did you try talking to him?"

"Err… No." Hermione admitted causing Ginny to give her a look, "Fine, I'll talk to him tonight after I go to the practice match."  
"So you're going now?" Ginny smirked and Hermione nodded in defeat, "Be at the field right after dinner. I'll see you there."

Hermione gave a weak smile before Ginny departed to join Harry who had just arrived.

Several hours later, Hermione stepped out into the cool autumn air and climbed up the stands around the Quidditch field. Both teams were on the ground, preparing for their match. No one else had come to watch except Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson, who weren't going to watch much anyway.

The match began almost immediately. Hermione kept an eye on Draco the whole time, watching his great Quidditch skill as a seeker, though he was no match for Harry. Ron had also improved his concentration over the summer with all of the practice he had gotten with Harry and Ginny. Overall the Gryffindor team seemed unstoppable for the upcoming season.

Gryffindor was ahead by forty points when Draco looked into the stands. His and Hermione's eyes stayed locked for a few seconds before Draco quickly turned away, pretending to have seen the snitch but lost it. Hermione kept her eyes off of him for the rest of the match, which was probably for the better, seeing as Draco performance started going down hill after that point.

It was nearly ten o'clock when Harry spotted the snitch. Draco on the other hand seemed to be completely oblivious to what was going on. Harry had been chasing it for almost a minute before Draco realized that he had found it. But it was too late, the moment he snapped back into seeker mode, Colin Creevey sent the destructive bludger soaring toward him.

"Draco! Look out!" One of the younger students on the Slytherin team yelled. Draco turned around to see what the problem was while the bludger came straight at his worried face.

He wasn't able to think fast enough and the heavy bludger hit him hard in the face. Hermione jumped off of the bench in the stands and heard a sickening crack. Harry meanwhile had caught the snitch and had just started celebrating before facing his horrified team, watching Draco fall twenty feet off his broom while unconscious, to the cold, hard ground.

Hermione shrieked at the sight of Draco lying in a bloody mess with his arm and leg bent unnaturally under his body. She quickly ran out of the stands to join the Gryffindor and Slytherins on the ground, wondering what to do.

"Someone needs to get Madame Pomfrey now!" She yelled over the noisy group. Harry and Ron looked over their shoulders, giving Hermione a strange look.

"Are you feeling okay?" Ron asked, taking a step toward her.

"Ron, he's hurt! We can't just leave him there!" Hermione exclaimed, trying to make it sound as if anyone would do that.

One of the Slytherin chasers volunteered to fetch Madame Pomfrey from the Castle, who returned several minutes later. She skillfully used her wand to lift Draco into the air and flew him back to the hospital wing, saying he'd be fine in the morning.

Hermione went back to her common room where she fell asleep reading her potions book on the couch. She was really worried about Draco and needed to do something to take her mind off of his accident.

As the autumn sunlight began streaming through the large common room windows, Hermione heard the portrait hole open and the clunking sound of crutches entering the room. She slowly opened her eyes, blinded by the light, and sat up on the couch.

The noise stopped and Hermione looked around to see Draco looking very tired. His left leg was wrapped tightly in bandages and he was using the crutches as support. Most of his cuts and bruises were gone and his nose and arm looked unbroken. His eyes met Hermione's and he frowned.

"Did I wake you up?" He asked in a scratchy voice, rubbing his eyes. Hermione was surprised he had even said anything to her.

"No, I was just about to get up when you came in. Are you alright?"

"Does it look like I am?"

"Err… Not really… Do you need any help?" Hermione asked, rising from the couch.

"I can manage getting to my room for now. I think I'm going to sleep a while." Draco started toward his open door.

"Wait. I need to ask you something." Hermione said with hesitation. Draco turned to face her and nodded as if to tell her to continue. "For the past few weeks, why have you been avoiding me?"

"I…I don't want to talk about it right now." Draco said quietly.

"Please?"

"Not now." He insisted.

"Did I do something wrong? If I did then I didn't mean to. Please just tell me." Hermione begged, now making Draco angry.

"Fine! Since you won't leave me alone until I tell you then I might as well tell you!" Draco exclaimed loudly causing Hermione to take a few steps away form him. Draco picked a random spot on the wall and stared at it, not wanting to look into Hermione's eyes. "I've just been really confused lately. After what happened during detention, I didn't know if I felt the same way for my girlfriend as I used to."

Hermione looked at the ground. She didn't want to think about his girlfriend.

"I waited a week and tried to figure out if my feelings really had changed and they had. I ended up writing a letter to her a few days ago to break off the relationship."

"Why?" Hermione whispered, pretending to pick away at a broken piece of her fingernail.

"Because… Because I didn't love her anymore and realized that I was starting to fall for you all over again. The only problem is that when I'm near you I can't think straight and do things that I don't mean to do. That's why I've been avoiding you. But last night, I saw you in the stands and my thoughts started getting jumbled up and I wasn't paying attention. You can see how much that affected me." Draco gave a small smirk and looked at his bandaged leg.

"So, you think you've fallen for… for me?" Hermione asked nervously, her heart racing.

"I wasn't planning on asking this for a while but I don't know, it seems like the right time. Do you want to err… maybe go out with me or something? That is if you still have feelings for me too." Draco asked quickly, Hermione had never seen him this shaky and unconfident before.

"What about everyone's reaction to it? Our houses would hate us." Hermione stated, not sure of what to do.

"We could keep it a secret until we're ready. It would be a huge lie but no one is getting hurt."

"I'm not sure. I mean I like you and all but hiding the relationship would be hard."

"We could pull it off." Draco said, finally persuading Hermione, "So what do you say?"

"I'd love to." Hermione said with a bit of hesitation. Draco leaned toward her and planted a soft kiss on her cheek. She blushed and Draco seemed to be back to his normal self.

"So I'll see you later." He said, hobbling into his room with his crutches.

"Yeah, later." Replied Hermione in a daydream type of voice. "Do you need any help by the way?"

"No, I'm fine." Draco insisted before closing the door to be in peace.

"And so am I." Hermione whispered to herself before flopping down on the couch, grinning widely.


	10. Telling Friends

Chapter 10: Telling the Friends

Chapter 10: Telling the Friends

"What are you so happy about?" Ron asked seeing Hermione appear in the Gryffindor common room with a huge grin across her face.

"I can't be happy is that what you're asking?" Hermione retorted, noticing that Ginny wasn't in the common room.

"No, it's just that you haven't been this cheerful the past two months. You haven't been unhappy, but you haven't been really happy." Harry added seeing as Ron didn't seem to know how to explain it himself.

"If you insist." Hermione shrugged, "Where's Ginny?"

"Still sleeping." Harry stated motioning toward the staircase leading to the girls' dormitories.

"It's almost noon though!" Hermione checked her watch.  
"Maybe she's not feeling well. You should go check." Harry asked looking concerned.

"Sure." Hermione replied before leaving to tell Ginny about Draco asking her out.

She reached the 6th year dormitories and saw that Ginny was indeed, still sleeping. Hermione carefully picked up a pillow and tossed it at the youngest Weasley's head. Ginny groaned from being woken up, but sat up in bed anyway.

"What do you want?" She asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes open.

"Ginny, it's me. I have some good news!"

Ginny's eyes shot open and she suddenly became much more awake. "Okay, I'm up. Now tell me!"

Hermione told Ginny all about what had happened that morning with Draco. How she asked him why he was avoiding her and then how he kissed her before going to his room.

"That's wonderful Hermione, but how are you going to keep this a secret forever?" Ginny asked, worried that the news would soon spread.

"Not forever, just until we're ready. Maybe we'll act more like friends in the hallways and eventually act more like a couple. I'm sure we'll talk about it sometime soon."

"Good idea." Ginny nodded in agreement, "So where's lover boy now?"

Hermione laughed at Draco new name, "'Lover boy' is sleeping, He should be up soon though."

"Then go wake him up and I'll say good err… afternoon, to my lover boy."

"Sounds good, and whatever you do, please don't tell Harry and Ron, especially Ron." She said feeling sorry for keeping this from her two best friends besides Ginny.

"No problem, and tell Harry that I'll be down in a minute, I just need to change." Ginny said, still in her pajamas.

"Okay, see you later."

The portrait hole closed silently behind Hermione as she looked around the head common room. Draco door was open but he was still sleeping peacefully on the bed. Hermione tiptoed inside and sat carefully on the bed next to her tired boyfriend.

"'Mione?" Draco mumbled sensing weight added to the bed.

"I'm sorry! Did I wake you?" Hermione asked quietly as Draco sat up in bed.

"Yeah for the millionth time this year," Draco laughed,"But I was about to get up soon anyway." He placed a strong arm around her shoulder.

"If you want, I'll leave so you can go back to sleep again."

"I already told you I was bound to wake up eventually. Plus, what good is this relationship if I'm sleeping all the time?"

"I like this new gentle and caring Draco. You should be like this more often." Hermione kissed his cheek and he pulled her closer so that her head rested on his shoulder.

"Draco?"

"Hmmm?"

"You smell dreadful from Quidditch last night. Go take a shower." Hermione giggled trying not to inhale his scent anymore.

"I guess I should." He smirked and let go of her, "I went straight from the field to the hospital wing, then back here to bed, sorry."

"It's okay; I'll still go out with you." Hermione smiled, helping Draco with his crutches.

"Oh good. I thought you would have left me forever." He said sarcastically before entering the bathroom and closing the door behind him.

Hermione and Draco had their time alone in their common room and the minute they stepped out through the portrait hole, they acted as if they hated each other with the strongest passions. Ginny watched their actions closely and picked up the smallest things that showed they were dating, but everyone else was too busy with their own lives to notice them.

The fire crackled in the large, common room fireplace as Draco sat staring deeply into Hermione's brown eyes. He had just come back from the hospital wing where Madame Pomfrey made sure his leg was fully mended before sending him off, bandage free.

"I'm glad you're able to walk without those horrible crutches now." Hermione smiled, breaking the silence.

"You're just not allowed to come to anymore of my Quidditch games or practices from now on. No more distractions." Said a smirking Draco as he wrapped an arm around his new girlfriend.

"No fair!" she laughed and hit him playfully on the head. "I guess I'll just have to find an invisibility cloak then!"

"I guess you will." Draco nodded, agreeing to her unlikely to happen plan.

He leaned in toward Hermione and their lips gently collided. She hung her arms around his neck as Draco played around with her curly brown hair. Just as Hermione thought things were getting good, there was a loud knock on the portrait hole, causing the couple to jump in fright and break away as if nothing had happened.

"Draco! Let me in!" Blaise Zabini called from the outside corridor.

"What do you want Zabini?!" Draco replied angrily, standing up from the couch to let him in. Hermione quickly made her way to her room as Blaise entered to speak with Draco.

She shut her door carefully behind her, receiving a weak smile of apology from the man she had just been snagging.

"You should have heard that girl scream when you fell off your broom the other day." Blaise laughed stepping closer to the fire.

"You seemed a bit preoccupied when I glanced at you. I didn't think you were paying much attention to the game."

"Yeah well I don't think Granger was either." Blaise smirked and Draco suddenly remembered how he hadn't yet told his best friend about his new relationship.

"About Hermione… I err… we are dating now. Not in public of course though." Draco admitted looking at the back of Hermione's bedroom door.

"That explains her hair looking messed around with when she walked away before."

"Shut up." Draco said, kicking his friend hard in the shin. Blaise cursed at him before turning to leave.

"See you later." He called, not really mad at Draco for causing him pain. "Have fun with Granger for me!"

"Blaise, I swear if you tell anyone—"

"You'll kill me? Don't worry, you can trust me to keep you're 'dirty little secret'. Just kidding about the dirty part." He added quickly after Draco gave him a death glare.

"Bye." Draco said watching Blaise close the door behind him, limping ever so slightly. Hermione reentered the common room right away.

"Can we start where we left off?" She asked slyly, pulling Draco by the hand.

"Before we were so rudely interrupted?" He said positioning himself next to her on the leather couch.

"Yes."

"Sure." Draco smirked before closing in on Hermione's mouth once more.


	11. Plans and Problems

Chapter 11: Plans and Problems

Chapter 11: Plans and Problems

Several weeks passed and November had turned into December. Hermione and Draco were still debating when to bring their relationship into the open. Surprisingly Blaise had kept quiet and hadn't informed the entire school. The second Hogsmeade trip was planned for the upcoming Saturday while a holiday ball had been announced for the evening before break started.

A large sign displaying information concerning the ball was hung in every common room one night, including the Head common room. Hermione awoke the following morning and read the new notice.

Attention Students:

Hogwarts is hosting a holiday ball this year, from seven o'clock until midnight on December the twenty third. It is to be held in the Great Hall and only fourth years and older may attend. All students that are not permitted to come will have a celebration in their common room, which will be organized by the heads of houses.

Girls must wear formal dresses or skirts and boys must wear dress robes. There will be no alcoholic beverages allowed, and anyone acting inappropriately will be sent to their dormitories and given a detention for after the break.

There will be food served and The Weird Sisters will be the musical guests along with a small orchestra. The staff and I hope to see all of you there and look forward to a night of mature fun.

Sincerely,  
Headmaster,  
Albus Dumbledore

"What are we going to do?" Draco called from behind Hermione, causing her to jump. He walked over and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips.

"I guess, we'll either go alone" Hermione paused to consider the other choices "Find dates just for that night, or we could finally tell everyone how—"

"I'm not ready to let the whole school know." Draco rudely cut her off.

"Fine. Then if we get asked, we'll go with whoever (that is if we want to…), or we'll go to hang out with our friends."

"That means I'll sit there watching Blaise and Pansy make out the entire night and you'll be left with Weasley. Sounds wonderful!" He smiled sarcastically.

"Not if you ask another girl and I get asked by another guy."

"I want to go with you and only you but seeing as that's not going to work out then I guess I'll have to settle for sitting by myself at a table, murdering whoever your date is, with my eyes."

"And why are you so sure that I'll be asked by someone?" Hermione sighed, staring into Draco gray eyes.

He smirked and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Let me just say that I've heard some of your Gryffindor friends talking about you in the hallways and it's been quite a difficult task to stop myself from beating the crap out of them. Plus, you know Weasley has liked you since he first laid his eyes on you."

"He has?"

"Are you that oblivious?" Draco asked, earning a kick in the shin, "He'll probably be the first to ask you, once he works up enough courage. Aren't Gryffindors supposed to be brave?"

"Stop picking on him!" Hermione exclaimed while pulling his arms off of her. "Ron is one of my best friends and if you're dating me then you're going to have to respect the people I hang out with." She stalked off for her room to prepare for classes.

"Hermione!" Draco groaned and chased after his angry girlfriend. "I'm sorry, I'll stop making jokes out of Potter and Weasley."

"Their names are Harry and Ron!" She yelled through her now locked door. "And stay out; I'm changing into my robes."

Draco sat, watching the flames dance in the large fireplace. The Hogsmeade tip was the following day and he didn't have Quidditch practice scheduled seeing as Slytherin final match of the season had been the previous weekend.

"You know the Hogsmeade trip tomorrow?" He asked loudly so that Hermione could hear properly.

"Yeah?"

"I think you should tell Potter— I mean Harry and Ron that you're sick."

"Why?"

"So that you and I can go for a walk on the grounds. I doubt anyone will see us and even if they do, it will probably be a little second year or something. Third years and up are all going so if we're spotted, it won't be by anyone that would actually care."

"What about your friends? What are you going to tell them?" Hermione opened the door in her clean school robes.

"They won't even notice I'm gone. Blaise and Pansy are always snagging the living daylights out of each other and I could go running circles around them while naked and they wouldn't notice. We better get to class soon though. I don't want another detention with Snape and you… or do I?" A playful smirk spread across Draco face as he led Hermione to the portrait hole.

"Okay, I'll tell my friends I don't feel well, but if we're spotted, it's your fault."

"We won't get spotted…" He said for what seemed like the millionth time.

"How are you so sure?"

"I'm psychic, didn't you know?"

"You're a loser…" Hermione rolled her eyes.

"That means that you're dating a loser then." Draco laughed and Hermione gave him a shove into the hallway. "See you later."

"Bye." Hermione said before going in the opposite direction for her Charms lesson.

Hermione awoke to a cloudy Saturday morning. She went down to breakfast, pretending to have a cough and stuffy nose, and sat to eat with Harry, Ron, and Ginny. They were all upset about the weather though they were all still going into Hogsmeade anyway.

"I don't think I'm going…" Hermione said, sounding slow and sick.

"Yeah, you look like you could use some rest. Maybe you should see Madame Pomfrey." Ron suggested, worried about his friend.

"It's just a cold. It'll be gone in a few days."

"Let's just hope so."

The three that were spending the day in Hogsmeade finished their breakfast and were preparing to depart when Hermione faked a cough just so it was convincing.

"Hermione, do you want me to walk you to your dormitory?"

"No I'll be alright Ron."

"I don't want anything to happen to you though. You could faint or something!" He exclaimed, trying to find an excuse to be alone with her.

"Umm okay." Hermione gave in. "Have fun guys!" She said in a fake, weak voice and began walking back to her dormitory with Ron. She knew Draco would have a good laugh when he saw Ron and he pathetic attempt to be with Hermione.

She and Ron reached the portrait hole and when it opened, Ron had to step inside to get a better look at how lucky she was. Draco was sitting on the couch and Hermione swore she saw him biting his lip in order to hold his laughter back. She shot him a dirty look while Ron wasn't paying attention and Draco left to wait in his room.

"You should meet up with Ginny and Harry before they get mad." Hermione said, leading Ron to the exit.

"I guess I should."

"Thanks for walking me here." She added politely.

"No problem." Ron replied, looking nervously around. "I was err wondering if—"

Hermione knew what was coming next and she was very thankful for being "sick" because she faked coughing. Ron didn't finish his sentence but used his wand to conjure a glass of water, which he handed to her.

"Thanks." Hermione said after she took a drink to stop her from coughing though it really didn't. "What were you asking?"

"Oh, umm never mind. It was a stupid question." He said, seeming disappointed as he turned to leave.

"Well good-bye then." Hermione said before closing the door behind him.

"That was bloody-hilarious." Draco laughed from his doorway.

"Shut-up, it wasn't funny and I feel really bad about what I did."

"But he should have known you wouldn't want to go to the ball with him! He just can't get it through his huge head. That red hair is like a deflector or something."

"How many times do I need to tell you? Stop being such a jerk about Ron, and Harry too!"

"It's not my fault. They set themselves up for these things and it's just natural to crack a joke at them."

"I don't care whose fault it is. Just stop it please." Hermione asked frustrated, and felt Draco arms wrap around her from behind.

"Sorry." He said innocently and kissed the top of her head. Who could refuse to forgive someone like that? Hermione couldn't.

"It's okay." Hermione spun around to face him. "Let's go for that walk on the grounds."


	12. Caught

Chapter 12: Caught

Chapter 12: Caught

The pair made sure the castle corridors were clear before walking to the cold grounds outside. The sun moved in and out of the early December clouds and a cool breeze blew fallen leaves across the grass. Hermione and Draco moved to the edge of the grounds so that they were as far from the castle as possible.

"So, why did you want to go for a walk so badly?" Hermione asked Draco as he took her hand in his.

"Just to get out of the castle I guess." He stated, brushing hair out of Hermione's face, "We've only been together inside our dormitory and I wanted a change of scenery."

"Well, we could talk."

"About what?"  
"Anything. What are you doing for your Christmas holiday?"

"Staying here."

"What about your parents? Won't they want you home?" Hermione questioned. Draco rarely spoke of his parents and she didn't blame him.

"My father's an ass and my mother would just complain about everything. That would be a wonderful holiday with them, wouldn't you agree?" He asked sarcastically. "Besides, they're in Azkaban still so they wouldn't be home anyway."

"Oh." Hermione awkwardly said. She somehow managed to forget that his parents were convicted Death Eaters and were thrown into Azkaban.

"What are you doing for the holidays?"

"My parents are going skiing in France again." Draco raised his eyebrows questionably. "It's a muggle thing. I'm not very good at it so I chose to stay here."

"Good, we can celebrate together." Draco smiled and kissed her cheek.

"What are we supposed to do when summer comes?" Hermione sighed.

"What do you mean?"

"Well we're going to go back home and what if we never see each other again? You're the only one that has ever made me this happy."

Draco sat down on the bench next to the lake and pulled Hermione next to him.

"We've only been dating for what, a month and a half? We graduate in seven months; there is plenty of time to figure out what we're going to do. We don't even know if we'll still be together by then." Draco said and then regretted it as soon as he saw the confused look on Hermione's face. "No, I didn't mean for it to sound like that!"

"Good. I was about to get up and walk away before you said that." She said, picking her head off of his shoulder.

"I want to stay with you for as long as I possibly can." Draco whispered, moving closer to Hermione until their lips met in a passionate kiss, but he soon drew himself apart from her.

"What's wrong?" Hermione's smile faded.

"It's starting to rain." He said as the sky soon became darker and more drops fell to the cold ground. "Let's go inside."

Draco helped Hermione off the bench and they walked as fast as they could toward the castle. They were halfway back when the rain started coming down in what seemed like buckets. Hermione shivered and Draco wrapped his arms tighter around her.

"I say we make a run for it." Hermione suggested through chattering teeth.

"Sure, just don't slip on the wet ground because I won't be carrying you inside." Draco smirked, causing him to get splattered with mud as Hermione kicked a puddle. "Thanks."

"No problem!" Hermione laughed and started running to the front doors of Hogwarts.

Draco caught up to her and splashed the muddy water back as he ran by. When they finally reached the oak doors, both of them were drenched in water and dirt. "Don't we look lovely?" Draco asked, clearing water out of his eye.

"I'd have to agree with you on that one." Hermione said, entering the entrance hall to the school. Draco pulled his wand from his back pocket, pointed it at Hermione's clothes, and said a spell that instantly removed all of the dirt while drying them. He then did the same to his own clothes.

"Much better." He laughed as they climbed the marble staircases.

They reached the corridor leading to the Heads dormitories when Draco stopped Hermione and turned her around to face him.

"Draco what are—"

"We never finished that kiss outside did we?"

"No, but I don't want to start snagging you in the middle of a corridor!" Hermione exclaimed, backing toward the portrait hole.

"Who's going to see?" Draco questioned her and before she could answer, he once again captured her lips in a long hard kiss.

Hermione's arms found their way around Draco neck and he began playing with her curly brown hair. After having seemed as if she had melted away, Hermione snapped back to reality and quickly took a step back from her slightly annoyed boyfriend.

"I guess you're feeling better." A hurt voice said from the opening of the corridor.

Hermione turned and spotted flaming red hair as Ron turned back around the corner to leave. She glared at Draco who took this as a sign to wait in the common room before Hermione attacked him. She then started after Ron.

"Ron wait!" She called running after him. "I can explain!"

"What do you need to explain?" He asked angrily and continued walking away. "I saw what happened, and I'm not stupid. You faked being sick so you could stay back inside the castle and have a nice snag with the one person I hate the most!"

Hermione grabbed his arm and held him back so she could speak properly to him. "You don't understand though." She began, trying to find the right way to tell Ron what was going on. "At the start of the year, Draco confessed that he really doesn't hate us and Harry, but he couldn't just start being friends with us out of nowhere. He had to tell me or else we would have murdered each other inside that common room already! I don't know what happened but I suddenly gained feelings for him and he had the same ones for me. We had to keep it a secret though or else the whole school would be against us!"

"You could have told me! It would have save me from making a fool of myself!" Ron exclaimed, raising his voice.

"No, I couldn't tell you because I knew you would act this way and make a huge deal out of it!" Hermione cried, tears starting to form in her eyes.

"So you were just going to keep this from me forever?"

"I was going to tell you eventually! Draco and I just weren't ready to let everyone know yet."

"And you're trying to make me believe that he's changed, are you?"

"You don't know him like I do." Hermione wiped the tears from her eyes. "Please, just give him a chance."

"I don't know if I can." Ron whispered before leaving a frustrated and crying Hermione and making his way to the Gryffindor common room.

Hermione entered her own common room and felt Draco arms gently wrap themselves around her. He placed a soft kiss on the top of her head before Hermione remembered that it was his fault that Ron found out. She freed herself from his embrace and ignoring his apologies, she locked herself in her bedroom.


	13. Forgiven

Chapter 13: Forgiven

Chapter 13: Forgiven

Monday came around and Hermione still wasn't speaking to anyone except Ginny. She was mad at Draco for kissing her and getting caught by Ron. She was mad at Ron for not accepting that her and Draco were dating. Finally, she was mad at Harry for not knowing whether to side with Ron or herself.

Luckily Ron hadn't told anyone except Harry about what had happened, so the whole school still thought Hermione and Draco hated each other. Ron looked miserable every time Hermione was near him so she asked Ginny to talk to him and knock some sense into his brain.

"Why can't you talk to him?" She asked in reply while selecting the books she needed for classes that day.

"Because he's ignoring me and the only thing I can do is ignore him back." Hermione seated herself on Ginny's bed.

The redhead gathered her books and stopped to think about the situation. She nodded her head as if to say that she would talk to her brother.  
"What should I say though?"

"That I'm sorry and that he just needs to accept the fact that Draco and I have feelings for each other." Hermione suggested. Ginny raised her eyebrow.

"You don't seem to have many feelings for him at the moment. What are up between you two?"

"We were right by our portrait hole and Draco decided he couldn't wait two more seconds to start snagging me. I told him we could get caught but he didn't listen, and then Ron saw us."

"So it was pretty much his fault?" Ginny smirked at how stupid it was for Draco to start kissing her out in the corridor.

"Yes and that's why I'm quite angry with him at the moment. You're going to speak with Ron then?" Hermione asked to make sure her friend would stick to what she said.

"Anything to make you two happy again. Oh and I think Harry wanted to have a little word with Draco after classes."

"What?!" Hermione exclaimed, eyes popping. She didn't need Harry to "have a talk" with Draco at the moment.

"I guess to just lay down the rules on dating you." Ginny shrugged.

"What is he, my father?"

"No, more like your older brother." She laughed and Hermione gave her a look that made her shut up instantly. "Don't worry; I'm sure Harry won't do anything to him. He'll just talk probably."

"I hope so." Hermione sighed before the two left to start their classes. They passed Ron and Harry on their way. Ron glared at Hermione while Harry gave an apologetic smile, which she didn't return.

Hermione only had to endure being near Draco in her potions class that was the final class that day. With the assigned seats, she was forced to sit next to him once again. Snape started the lesson by saying how they wouldn't be potion-making, but instead starting an essay that they would have to finish for homework. Hermione immediately began writing but was interrupted as a neatly folded scrap of parchment hit her hand.

She carefully opened the note so that Snape wouldn't see it, and began reading Draco message.

Hermione, I'm sorry. Please forgive me.

Hermione pulled out her wand and pointed it at the paper, causing it to momentarily light on fire and disappear at once. She then returned to her own parchment, only to be interrupted a second time by another one of Draco notes.

Why can't you just realize that I didn't mean for this to happen?

Hermione ripped the note into several pieces before burning the parchment again. She picked up her quill and started to add to the essay when Draco slammed his fist onto the desk in frustration. Almost all of the students in the classroom turned around to give Draco glares to show how annoying he was being.

"Is something wrong Mr. Malfoy?" Snape asked from the front of the room.

"I just realized that I made a mistake in my essay and now I need to start it all over." Draco lied slyly as he pretended to take out a new piece of parchment.

"No more disruptions or I'll take points from Slytherin." The potions master declared and the class continued their writing.

Class ended and Draco received a dirty look from Hermione before he was met by Harry in the dungeon corridor. Hermione glanced nervously over her shoulder and saw Harry taking Draco into an empty classroom. She made her way to the Head common room, hoping that even though she was angry with Draco, he came back all in one piece.

"What do you want Potter?" Draco asked after being shoved against the hard, stone wall.

"Let's get a few things straight on you dating Hermione." Harry began quickly.

"Hold on. I don't even know if I am dating Hermione at the moment. She won't talk to me or anything."

"Good, you deserve it." Harry smirked. "If you're still together and you hurt her in any way, I will beat the crap out of you. I don't ever want to hear about anything weird going on between you two because that's just wrong. And finally I don't want to see you two snagging around the school."

"What do you mean weird? I'm sure you and your little Weasley have done weird things before." Draco said, hitting a nerve in Harry.

"Don't you dare talk about Ginny like that." Harry said through gritted teeth as he rolled up his sleeves.

"Whatever. Besides, Hermione's not stupid, if you hadn't noticed." Draco added, making his way toward the door.

"I really don't like you and her in a relationship, but if it makes her happy, so be it." Harry told Draco before the door closed behind him.

"What the hell did you do to Potter?! I mean Harry." Draco exclaimed as he met Hermione in the common room. She stood up and for the first time in a few days, she seemed as though she were going to answer him.

"Nothing, but what did he talk to you about?"

"First he said that he and Weas— Ron would murder me if I did anything to you. He said he didn't want to see us snag, and then he told me not to have sex with you."

"What?!"  
"Well he didn't come right out and say it. He said don't do anything 'weird'. It's as if he can't say the word or something." Draco smirked.

"What did you tell him?"

"I said you were smart and told me not while we're in Hogwarts." He said calmly. "And then I left."

"I'm sorry," Hermione said quietly, changing the subject, "for not forgiving you."

"Why are you sorry? It was my fault. I didn't listen to you and it caused trouble with your friends." Draco admitted, taking Hermione's hand.

"Now I forgive you. Just don't do it again." Hermione said, while her lips collided with Draco. As they broke apart, a knock came from the portrait hole.

"Hermione, it's Ron. Can we talk?" Ron called nervously through the portrait.

Draco groaned, releasing Hermione from his arms. "How many times is he going to interrupt us?" He whispered.

"Go wait in your room or something while I talk to him." Hermione replied, ignoring his comment. Draco left, and Ron was let inside.

"Hi." Was all Hermione could think to say. She wanted just to hear what Ron had to say.

"Hi." Ron repeated, looking uneasily around the room. "I'm sorry err… about the other day. I overreacted and I can't stay mad at you forever."

"I'm sorry too. I would have told you eventually. We were just waiting for the opportune moment." Hermione said and gave Ron a weak smile, which he returned.

"I'm glad we're not angry with each other anymore." Ron said happily, getting ready to leave.

"Yeah. Oh before you go, I was wondering if you wanted to go to the ball with me." Hermione suggested, thinking quickly.

"Excuse me?"

"Like I said, Draco and I aren't ready to tell everyone, and you wouldn't want me to miss out on the fun, would you?"

"No, I wouldn't."

"So will you go with me?"

"Sure. I can't wait!" He smiled and gave Hermione a friendly hug. They said goodbye and as one door closed, the other one opened.

"That was nice of you." Draco mumbled, planting several kisses on Hermione's lips.

"If only he had blonde hair, gray eyes, and were a very hot Slytherin." Hermione sighed, kissing him back.

"I know a guy like that."

"Do you?"

"Yea but he's already going out with a gorgeous young lady with lovely brown eyes and hair."

"That's too bad." Hermione laughed and was swept away by another long romantic kiss.


	14. The Winter Ball

Chapter 14: The Winter Ball

Chapter 14: The Winter Ball

Hermione checked her appearance in the bathroom mirror one last time before entering the common room. It was the night of the Yule Ball and she was to meet with Ron, Harry, and Ginny at seven o'clock in the Great Hall. First, Draco needed to see her before he went down alone.

"Finally you're ready." He said when he heard the door start to creak open.

"I'm a girl, what do you expect?" Hermione laughed and stepped out of her dormitory.

"Bloody hell!" Draco exclaimed, his eyes almost popping out of his head admiring the way she looked in her nicely fitting black halter-top dress. "I didn't know you could get any more beautiful!"

Hermione blushed while Draco planted a kiss on her cheek. She felt bad for having to leave him by himself that night while she would be having a good time with her friends.

"If Weas— err… If Ron tries to make a move on you, is it all right if I kill him?" He asked, taking a long look at Hermione.

"Ron knows that I'm in a relationship with you. He won't do anything, I promise." Hermione grabbed her handbag off of a desk.

"Good. You can leave first and I'll go when I feel like it. Have fun and I'll see you later." Draco kissed her once more before sending his girlfriend to find her friends.

Hermione immediately spotted Ron's flaming red hair within the Great Hall. He was sitting alone, watching Harry and Ginny dance to one of the Weird Sisters' newest songs. He turned around with a jump as Hermione tapped his shoulder.

Ron's mouth opened and it seemed as if he had lost all memory of the English language.

"Ron. Ron! Snap out of it!" Harry exclaimed, pulling Ginny off the dance floor.

"What my idiot brother wants to say is that you look great Hermione!" Ginny said, hitting Ron lightly on the head.

Hermione moved her attention away from Ron and to her other friends. "Same to you Gin!" She replied, noticing how good the redhead looked in her light blue dress.

"Do you want to dance?" Ron asked nervously, standing up to take Hermione's hand.

"I'd love to."

The pair stepped on to the dance floor while Harry and Ginny ordered their food. Hermione watched as Draco came down the marble staircase and sat alone at an empty table in the corner of the Great Hall. The music started to slow after several songs and Ron made the suggestion to join Ginny and Harry for dinner. He had probably sensed that Hermione would feel uncomfortable dancing close with one of her good friends as her boyfriend watched closely from the sidelines.

"So, what do you two recommend for us to eat?" Hermione asked Ginny and Harry while opening the menu. It must have had over 50 different meals from several cultures.

"I think it all sounds good." Ron laughed with a starved look on his face.

"Pig…" Ginny scowled and pointed out the appetizing dishes to Hermione.

When the couple finally decided what to eat, they spoke their requests into their table settings and the meals were sent up from the kitchens several seconds later.

"Given up on that whole 'spew' thing then?" Ron asked, already piling food onto his fork.

"It's S.P.E.W. for the last time, and yes, I've stopped with it. I realized that everyone was right and the majority of house-elves enjoy their jobs." Hermione smiled while placing her napkin on her lap.

Light conversation was held between the four friends until another slow song came on and Harry asked Ginny to dance with him. By the time Ron and Hermione finished their delicious dinners, Draco was looking extremely bored in the corner of the room. Hermione had seen a group of fifth year Ravenclaw girls approach him, giggling to themselves. One of the girls asked Draco something causing him to raise his eyebrow questionably and then shake his head. The girls left with disappointed looks on their faces while Draco went back to being uninterested in the dance.

"Hermione," Ron began, getting Hermione's attention back, "I know I made a big deal about you going out with Malfoy, but you should be here with him tonight and not me."

"What?" Hermione asked, realizing Ron had probably seen her glance back at Draco.

"You two shouldn't care what other's think. If you have feelings for each other, nothing should keep you from showing them. I think you and him should be together tonight." Ron concluded, playing nervously with his fork.

"I can't, I'd feel terrible about leaving you by yourself." Hermione sighed.

"I'll find something to do, don't worry. Besides, I've already had a great time so far with you!" Ron smiled, receiving a friendly hug from Hermione.

"I'll talk to Draco about it and if he says no then I'll hang out with you some more. Thanks so much Ron!" She exclaimed, jumping up from her chair.

"It's no big deal. I'm happy if you're happy. See you later!" Ron replied as Hermione walked toward Draco.

Without making eye contact or even looking at her boyfriend, Hermione slowly walked past Draco. "Meet me in the empty classroom around the corner." She said quietly, as if talking to herself.

Draco head turned as he realized what Hermione had just told him to do. He watched her leave the Great Hall and making sure no one was paying attention, he slipped out behind her.

"I can't take it anymore Hermione! I need to be with you tonight and I don't care what people say!" Draco said, wrapping his arms around her body, their lips only inches apart.

"That's what I wanted to tell you too. Ron wanted me to be happy with you and didn't mind us together." Hermione explained as Draco hastily kissed her.

"How are we going to do this?" Hermione asked, breaking the romantic kiss.

"Err… You go back in and sit with Ron." Draco began his plan. "Then I'll walk over and ask if I can dance with you. It's the day before break so either they find out tonight that we've been dating or make it look like we started dating over break."

"Let's go with the second choice. We just have to keep ourselves from kissing each other until the ball is over." Hermione reminded Draco and he frowned slightly.

"If you insist…" He said, kissing her quickly before they left the room.

"So what did those Ravenclaw girls want before?" Hermione laughed, unlocking the classroom door with her wand.

"One of them asked me if I would dance with them. I told her that I was too old for her and she got frustrated and left with her little friends to find another guy." Draco smirked and let Hermione enter the Great Hall alone. He did the same several minutes later and without hesitation, found his way to where she was patiently sitting with Ron.

"May I have this dance?" Draco asked, wondering if students were already watching them. He glanced at Ron who didn't look too disgusted yet.

"Do you mind Ron?" Hermione questioned politely, trying to make the scene as convincing as possible.

"It's fine with me. Go have fun!" He exclaimed and Hermione smiled brightly. Draco took her hand and led her to the floor like any gentleman would.

It was a slow song so Draco kept hold of her hand while placing his other hand on her waist. As Hermione stared deeply into her boyfriend's eyes, their surroundings melted away and they were the only ones dancing. She gently rested her head on Draco shoulder and both of them smiled, happy to be together at the dance with their secret finally free.

"Draco, what the hell are you doing?!" An angry voice called from nearby, bringing the couple back down to earth. Hermione picked her head up and her and Draco looked to where the voice was coming from. It was his fellow Slytherin, Theodore Nott, who was with a blonde Ravenclaw student.

"I'm dancing." Draco stated simply, pulling Hermione closer.

"Yeah, with a mudblood." Nott said, glancing at Hermione. Draco immediately pulled out his wand, letting go of his dance partner.

"Never call her a mudblood in front of me again!" He exclaimed, threatening Nott with his wand. "If you have a problem, you can tell my fist." Draco rolled up his sleeves, ready to punch the Slytherin in the face if he said anything else.

The students that had been curiously watching returned to dancing and stopped glaring disapprovingly at Hermione being with Draco.

"Just ignore them." Draco whispered as his arms went around Hermione's waist and her arms around his neck.

"Thanks for sticking up for me." She smiled as the song changed.

"That's what you're supposed to do for people you care for, right?" Draco replied, softly kissing Hermione's cheek. She nodded, staring deeply into is gray eyes. "I love you Hermione." He added, nervously waiting for her response.

"I love you too."


	15. No Big Deal

Chapter 15: No Big Deal

Chapter 15: No Big Deal

Two mornings after the dance was the start of the winter break. It also happened to be Christmas. Hermione woke up comfortably in the arms of Draco, who she had fallen asleep with while sitting on the couch in the common room.

"Finally, you're awake." He yawned, causing Hermione to jump. She thought he was still asleep.

"Merry Christmas to you too." Hermione replied while turning around to face him.

"So what are we going to do today?"

"We can open our gifts now and then I wanted to go down and say goodbye to Ginny and Ron. We can eat breakfast and after that you can decide what to do."

"That sounds good. Merry Christmas!" Draco exclaimed handing Hermione a small wrapped present from under the tree that had been placed next to the fire overnight. Before opening it, Hermione gave Draco his gift from her.

"You open first." Draco told her, putting his neatly wrapped present on the floor by his feet.

Hermione slowly opened her gift to reveal a thin black box.

"A box! I always wanted one of these!" She smiled sarcastically without opening it.

"Just open it…" Draco ordered impatiently.

She carefully took the top off of the box to find a gold bracelet with several diamonds sparkling on it.

"Draco it's beautiful!" She said staring at it, "How could you afford to buy it?"

"Well, my parents are both in Azkaban for life, remember? So I inherited the manor and all of their money." He answered while he received a quick kiss from Hermione.

"Thanks so much, I love it." Hermione said and gave Draco his gift from off of the floor. "Your turn."

He tore the wrapping paper off like any teenage guy would and threw it to the side. Draco then opened the box from under the paper and pulled out a pair of the newest and best seeker gloves that Hermione could find in Hogsmeade and black and green Quidditch shorts.

"These gloves are perfect! Do you want me to beat Gryffindor?!" He laughed, trying the gloves on.

"Harry's better than you anyway…" Hermione said lazily. Draco stared at her in disbelief. "I was only joking! You said though that you don't want to do Quidditch after Hogwarts so what does it matter if you lose?"

"It doesn't matter. But still, I don't want to lose to Potter again. It will be the fifth time!" Draco recalled. He had started Quidditch in his second year and they had their fourth year off due to the Triwizard Tournament.

"Okay, well do you like the shorts?" Hermione changed the subject, "I saw them at the Quidditch supply store in Hogsmeade and got them for you because they were Slytherin colors. You don't have to wear them to practice, you could just use them as normal shorts if you wanted."

"Yeah, that's probably what they were for; usually you have to wear those stupid tight pants when you play Quidditch." Draco smirked and put the gifts back in the box. "I'll wear them as pajamas. Thanks!"

"No problem. Let's get changed and then go have something to eat." Hermione said, feeling her stomach rumble.

The pair arrived in the Great Hall half an hour later. Draco had his arm around Hermione seeing as the school knew they were now together though many still gave them dirty looks. Harry was saying his own goodbyes to Ginny and Ron as Hermione and Draco approached.

"Hermione!" Ginny squealed and gave her friend a hug, pulling her away from the group and Draco. She then whispered, "You two look so cute together! Even though I knew you were dating, last night was the first time I saw anything romantic between the two of you."

"Yeah well not everyone agrees with you." Hermione sighed and they walked back over to the guys who were sitting in an uncomfortable silence.

"What time are you planning on leaving?" Harry asked Ron and Ginny, looking at his watch.

"Are you trying to get rid of us?" Ron laughed, also checking Harry's watch. "The train is leaving in half an hour. Ginny, do you think we should start making our way to the Hogsmeade station?"

"Yeah, we probably should." Ginny said sadly, "Bye Hermione, you too Malfoy."

"Have fun at the Burrow!" Hermione smiled, waving goodbye to her friend.

"Bye." Draco said, trying to be polite.

Ron did the same while Harry gave Ginny a long, loving hug and kissed her cheek. The three of the then left for the station. Harry was just going so he could be with Ginny for a few more minutes.

Hermione and Draco were left to eat their Christmas morning breakfast together in their warm common room due to the fact that Draco decided to sneak food back from the Great Hall. They sat in front of the blazing fire as snow started falling outside on the grounds.

"Are we just going to sit around in here all day until the feast tonight?" Draco asked, finishing his last bit of food and stretching across the couch.

"If you want to," Hermione nodded, sitting on Draco lap with her arms placed around his neck, "Unless you want to go outside in the snow."

"I'm getting cold just looking at it." He laughed turning his head away from the window.

"I can fix that." Hermione smiled and her lips met with Draco in a passionate kiss.

She moved closer to Draco while he began running his hands through her hair. Hermione who had been lying on top of Draco found herself beneath him as he broke the kiss momentarily for air.

"Still feeling cold?" Hermione asked looking closely into Draco eyes.

"No, but that doesn't matter…" He whispered against her lips and smirked before returning to the kiss.

Hermione's arms left Draco neck and her hands moved to the bottom of his shirt. Draco, not thinking about what was going on allowed Hermione to take his shirt off while his fingers started to undo the buttons on her own shirt.

Her shirt was nearly off, revealing a thin white tank top, when Hermione snapped back to reality. Her eyes widened in shock as she ended the kiss.  
"Hermione?" Draco groaned, and sat up.

"Draco I can't do this right now. We can't do this!" She exclaimed, fixing her shirt and moving away from Draco. "Dumbledore trusts us to behave and I'm not ready for this yet."

"If you don't want to, then I won't force you to do anything. I just got carried away, sorry." He said and took her hands in his.

"It's okay; I shouldn't have started it…" Hermione's eyes moved to his shirt on the floor to his bare chest. Draco bent down to retrieve it when she noticed something on the inside of the upper portion of his left arm.

"What's on your arm?" She asked curiously.

"Where?" Draco searched his right arm and put his shirt back on.

"On your other arm."

Draco glanced quickly at his left arm. "It's just a birthmark."

"It didn't look like a birthmark…" Hermione insisted.

"Well it is. Do you want to go outside? I think it stopped snowing." Draco changed the subject ignoring Hermione.

"Sure." Hermione took Draco hand as he helped her off of the couch. Before he knew what was happening, Hermione had rolled up his sleeve and found what definitely not a birthmark was.

"How could you do this?" She cried, looking at the faint outline of the dark mark tattooed on his arm.

"Hermione, it's nothing."

"Yes it is! This is the mark of the most evil and cruel wizard there ever was and you act as if it's not a big deal." Hermione exclaimed, upset with Draco.

"I wasn't the one that decided to get it!" He raised his voice, "My dad was the Dark Lord's right hand man and being his son, I was practically signed on to become a death eater since before I was born! Do you think I wanted to be a potential murderer?"

"Tell me you didn't kill anyone." Hermione whispered as tears slowly formed in her eyes.

"The war was ended only a few days after I was made a death eater. If I had been told to fight or kill, I promise you I wouldn't have gone through with it." Draco took Hermione's hands and gently kissed her lips. "I never did anything. Only my parents and the Dark Lord knew that I was a death eater or else I would have been in Azkaban even if I was innocent."

"What if someone else finds out?"

"I'll tell them the truth and hopefully they will believe it. If I hated muggle-borns and muggles, would I be holding you right now? Please don't tell anyone, not even Ginny, because I know you tell her everything." Draco caused Hermione to smile and her tears faded away.

"Can we forget about this?" She asked, resting her head on Draco shoulder.

"That sounds like a good idea." Draco whispered and kissed the top of her head. "Let's have some of those cookies that Mrs. Weasley sent you."

"I bet you'll love them." Hermione smiled as if their last conversation never occurred.


	16. Love and Trust

Chapter 16: Love and Trust

Chapter 16: Love and Trust

The holiday break soon passed and classes had started again. Just as Hermione had suspected, most of the school thought that she and Draco had only started going out recently. Their new freedom of not having to hide their relationship was leaving the couple more relaxed and they no longer had to worry about being seen together.

It was the second week of classes since the break and the students were finally getting back into their normal routines. Hermione had been eating breakfast with Harry, Ron, and Ginny when she saw Draco approach her.

"What happened to waiting for me this morning?" He asked, somewhat annoyed.

"Oh, sorry, I had to stop by McGonagall's office to ask her something about the reading she assigned. I didn't want to be late for breakfast so I left early." Hermione explained apologetically.

"We'll you could have left a note so I would have known where you went." Draco said irritably.

"I would have but I'm running low on parchment. I'll send an owl for some more after classes' today."

"Okay, I'm going to eat. I'll see you later in class." He said, walking away with a slight frown on his face.

Hermione turned back to her friends who were staring back with confused expressions.

"What was that all about?" Ginny asked curiously, finishing her toast.

"I guess he's just mad that I didn't wait for him." Hermione sighed and made sure all the books she needed that day were in her bag before saying goodbye and heading off for her first class.

The last class of the day was Hermione and Draco history of magic class, together. Professor Binns was lecturing the class on their N.E.W.T exams and how soon they would be arriving. All of the students had already heard this speech in every class since the beginning of their sixth year at Hogwarts yet Hermione was scribbling down every word he said while the rest of the class tried staying awake or were talking with their friends.

"Why are you writing all of this down?" Draco asked, extremely bored, placing his arm around Hermione's waist.

"Because it's important." She replied, still concentrating on the slow droning words coming out of the ghost's mouth. Hermione took her free hand and removed his hand from her hip.

"You've heard this in every class though!"

"Stop, I need to listen to what advice he's giving us. It could be the difference between an exceeds expectations and an outstanding!"

Finally the class ended and several people had to be woken up by their friends, finding that they had drooled all over their books. Hermione threw all of her stuff back into her bag and hurried out of the room.

"Hermione!" Draco called as he tried catching up to her from down the hallway, "Hermione wait up!"

She stopped her fast-paced walking and spun around as Draco jogged over to her side. He put his arm around Hermione and went to plant a kiss on her cheek but she pulled away quickly looking at her watch.

"Draco not now. I have to go. I'm supposed to hang out with Ginny in the Gryffindor common room in five minutes." Hermione said, "She needed some help on her transfiguration essay too."

"You can't just spend five minutes with me? I haven't really talked to you all day…" Draco groaned. Hermione seemed anxious to leave.

"I'll see you tonight, after dinner. We can talk then." She smiled but Draco only frowned more.

"I have Quidditch. I told you last night when you finished your work and finally gave me a few seconds of your time before rushing off to your bedroom…" He explained looking into Hermione's eyes but she avoided his.

"Sorry, I guess I forgot." Hermione apologized.

"Yeah I guess you did." Draco sighed but tried to display a forgiving smile, "You should probably go. I'm sure Ginny's waiting for you."

"Okay, I'll see you late tonight or in the morning." Hermione said before departing and going up a separate staircase.

Hermione sat at her desk within the Head common room as the door opened and Draco stumbled in, tired from Quidditch. Even if it was the middle of January, he still held practice, whether the team liked it or not.

"Hi," He said quietly as Hermione gathered her papers and put her quill and ink away.

"I just finished my essay for charms class tomorrow. I think I'm going to go to bed now." She said quickly and stood up from her seat, heading for her door.  
"Hold on." Draco gently grabbed her arm, stopping her from entering her room. "We need to talk."

"Can't it wait until the morning? I'm quite tired right now." Hermione suggested, trying to free her arm.

"No, it can't. We need to talk now."

"Okay… Is everything all right? Is there something wrong?" She asked worried that something might have happened. Draco sat down on the couch and she followed.

"Nothing's wrong with me, but what's the matter with you lately?" He asked and he could sense her confusion.

"I don't know. What have I been doing wrong?"

"Hermione, you've been avoiding me for almost a week!" Draco explained, irritably, "I haven't talked to you other than to ask where you were going or what you were doing without you quickly leaving! I haven't been able to kiss you, hug you, or even hold your hand! I don't understand what's going on! Can you please tell me?"

"I—I don't know." Hermione stuttered, tears forming.

"I don't either and I can't stand it because I don't know what I've done or why you wont talk to me!" Draco admitted, trying to figure out the reason. "Don't lie; you need to tell me what's happening."

There was a long pause in which Draco tried looking into Hermione's eyes but she averted her gaze, preventing eye contact.

"It's the dark mark isn't it?" Draco quietly asked after a while. Hermione nodded silently. "How many times do I have to tell you? I never hurt or intended on hurting anyone. It wasn't my choice to become a bloody death eater! Why can't you trust me?"

Hermione didn't answer. Instead, she stared at the ground and sniffled from crying.

"This relationship won't work if you can't talk to me about things or trust me."

"I guess I'm just a—afraid I might get h—hurt." She finally responded.

"Why would I ever want to hurt you?" He asked, moving to brush a tear off of her cheek. Hermione pushed his hand away.

"You're a death eater. Who knows what you might do?"

"For the millionth time Hermione! I didn't bloody choose this for myself and I don't want anything to do with the dark arts!" Draco exclaimed frustrated with her.

"I'm sorry… It's just that—"

"Why don't you trust me Hermione?! Did I ever intentionally want to hurt you at all since we've been together?"

"No…"

"Then why can't you understand that I love you and that having the dark mark hasn't made me a dark wizard!" Draco questioned loudly, causing Hermione to tremble. She didn't know what to say.

"I… I think we need to put this relationship on hold until you decide whether you trust me or not." Draco decided with a slight hesitation.

"If that's what you want then we might as well just break up!" Hermione cried, getting up from the couch.

"What the bloody hell are you talking about?! I don't want this at all! You're the one that won't let the dark mark thing go! You're the one that needs to trust me because I know I trust you and I love you Hermione but you don't know how you feel for me!" Draco exclaimed, anger building inside of him, "Either you make up your mind now and we forget everything that went on tonight, or you and I can keep some distance between us until you know you can show the same feelings for me in return because if you can't then it isn't fair to treat me like that."

"I can't do this… I don't want to hurt you but I don't think I love you anymore." Hermione said, choking on her tears. Before Draco could say anything or react, she turned and ran out of the portrait hole.

"Well you did hurt me…" Draco whispered to the empty common room as the girl he loved shattered his heart.


	17. Regret

Chapter 17: Regret

Chapter 17: Regret

Hermione entered the Gryffindor common room and searched through the tears in her eyes for Ginny Weasley. She spotted the red head, alone in a chair by the fire and approached her.

"G—Ginny," Hermione sniffled, getting her friend's attention.

"Hermione! What happened to you? Are you alright?!" Ginny asked, standing up from the chair.

"I did something re—really stupid…" She said and whipped the tears from her eyes.

"You didn't—"

"No! I know what you're thinking and you know I would never do that while I'm still at Hogwarts!" Hermione exclaimed, eyes popping.

"Then let's go find an empty classroom so we can talk about it." Ginny suggested and the pair left the common room so no one could listen to their conversation. "So what did you do?"

"Over the break I found something out about Draco and it made me feel uncomfortable to be with him."

"What was it?"

"I promised him that I wouldn't tell anyone, not even you. But the past few weeks I had sort of been avoiding him and he realized it and asked me if I trust him. I didn't answer but he said that if I couldn't trust or love him even though he trusts and loves me, then we should take a break from the relationship until I can decide. I panicked and didn't know what to say so I— I just broke up with him instead…"

"What did he say?"

"Nothing. I ran here right after I said that."

Ginny wrapped her arms around Hermione in a comforting hug. "It's okay. We can fix this. I think you should just keep some space between him for a while and then if he really loves you, he'll eventually want you to come back. Are you still unsure whether you trust him or not?"

"He said he would never intentionally hurt me and he wouldn't lie to me, so I guess I do." Hermione decided, realizing that she shouldn't have panicked and ended their relationship.

"But do you still love him?"

"Of course I do! I don't know why I was so unsure an hour ago!" Hermione exclaimed, frustrated with herself.

"You could both use some time apart and when you think the time is right, talk to him about what happened." Ginny smiled encouragingly.

"How do you happen to know what to do every time I have a problem?" Hermione questioned and raised an eyebrow.

"I'm dating Harry Potter, 'The Chosen One' or, 'The Boy Who Lived'… You never know what's going to happen with him." She admitted and for the first time that night, Hermione let out a small laugh.

Draco sat on the leather couch in his common room staring into the fire. He didn't know why Hermione was so stubborn and didn't trust him. He had promised her that he would never hurt any muggle-borns or muggles and she still wouldn't accept the fact that he was forced to become a death eater. Draco let out a deep sigh of frustration when a knock came at the door.

"What?" He asked angrily, getting up from his comfortable spot by the fireplace. No one answered but he opened the door anyway.

Draco was able to recognize the flash of red hair he saw as Ron's before he received a rough kick in his stomach. Draco let out a loud deep groan as he coiled over him pain.

"What the bloody hell was that for Weasley?!" He yelled, clutching his ribs. He sat up and leaned against the wall.

"For what you did to Hermione!" Ron answered and punched Draco in the nose.

"I didn't do anything to her!" Draco admitted after recovering from the second hit which caused his nose to bleed.

"Then why did she come bursting into the common room hysterically crying?!"

"Don't ask me!" He exclaimed irritably and then paused to think, "You have a point there. Why would Hermione be crying if she's the one that broke up with me?"

"So you're telling me that she broke up with you and you didn't do anything to her?" Ron asked uncomfortably realizing that he had no reason to be there at the moment.

"Good job Weasley. You must feel real intelligent now, don't you?" Draco said, clenching his fists.

"But— But why would she be crying then?" Ron asked trying to keep Draco from beating the crap out of him.

"Why would I know that if I hardly understand why she broke up with me in the first place?"

"Well usually the person that didn't break up the relationship is the one crying. Though I'm sure you're not too cheerful at the moment…"

"Yeah, no thanks to you." Draco added under his breath.

"I think I'll leave now that I've made a fool of myself." Ron nervously decided and began opening the portrait hole.

"Good idea Weasley. Next time find out what really happened before jumping to conclusions…" Advised Draco, "Could you find out why Hermione was crying? I mean maybe she didn't mean to break up with me…"

"Err… I'll try but I don't know how I'm going to do it."

"What about your sister? Hermione probably tells her everything!" Draco suggested hopefully.

"Sure, I'll ask her in the morning."

"Thanks and then when you find out, I won't have to beat the bloody life out of you for what you just did to me."

"I still feel really stupid about that. Sorry again." Ron apologized, noticing Draco nose wasn't bleeding as much now. "So I think I'm going to leave before I get caught out in the corridors."

Draco nodded in agreement and gave Ron a lazy wave good-bye as he returned to the Gryffindor common room.

By the time Draco went down for breakfast the next morning, word had somehow spread throughout most of the school that Hermione broke up with him. Girls had already started flirting with him or at least attempting to, seeing as Draco would just ignore them and continue with what he was doing. Hermione on the other hand was looking just as upset as Draco.

When Ron entered the Great Hall, he had just updated Harry with the recent events and informed him that Draco didn't do anything to hurt Hermione. Before sitting at the table, he pulled Ginny aside to ask her if Hermione meant to break up with Draco.

"She probably doesn't want me to tell you so go ask her yourself." Ginny replied, annoyed that she was taken away from her breakfast.

"I don't want her to think that I still have feelings for her though. That might be a little awkward don't you think?"

"You don't have feelings for her anymore?" Ginny asked, quite surprised in her brothers change.

"If she's happy, I'm happy and that's all that matters. But she didn't look too happy last night so I just wanted to know if she regretted breaking up with Malfoy."

"Nevertheless, I think you should ask her… I don't think she would be too kind to me if I told you anything." Ginny concluded and she and Ron walked back into the Great Hall together.

Hermione was silently picking apart a piece of toast, not actually eating it. Harry stated that he would walk Ginny to class, leaving Ron free to question Hermione.

"What was so important that you had to ask Ginny in private?" She inquired, finally switching her attention away from the toast.

"I was just wondering if… If you really meant to end your relationship with Draco." Ron found it strange to call him Draco instead of the usual Malfoy.

"Why didn't you just ask me?"

"Well I thought you might think that I was asking because I liked you as more than a friend." He admitted nervously, playing with the fork on the table.

"But you said you didn't care if I dated him so why would I think that?" Hermione laughed slightly and Ron shrugged, "Did… Did Ginny tell you the answer?"

"No, she said that I should ask you, so here I go. Did you mean to break up with Draco?"

Hermione paused, looking out the window, lit with the bright morning sun. "I don't know…"

"Just answer yes or no." Ron insisted, trying to detect her emotions.

"Yes." Hermione whispered and dropped her gaze to stare at the cold floor.

"Do you regret it?"

Hermione didn't answer. She carefully stood up, placing her book bag over her shoulder. "I'll see you in class." She quickly said before rushing out of the Great Hall.


	18. Sick of Love

Chapter 18: Sick of Love

Chapter 18: Sick of Love

Ron watched as Hermione left the Great Hall, not bothering to go after her. He looked across the tables to find Draco staring hopelessly at her until she was out of sight. Draco turned his head and caught Ron's eye. Ron signaled for Draco to meet him in the corridors and he obeyed, deserting his breakfast.

"Did you ask Hermione?"

"Yes." Ron replied hesitantly.

"What did she say?" Draco asked, already knowing the answer.

"She said… She said that she meant to break up with you. I asked her if she regretted doing so and she just got up and left for class without answering me." Ron explained, waiting for Draco reaction.

He stayed silent for a moment, and then finally looked back at Ron. "Well… thanks for asking anyway. We better get going, class starts in fifteen minutes."

"Good idea." Ron agreed and started for the nearest staircase. "Oh and Mal— Draco, I'm sorry about Hermione. Eventually she'll believe her feelings and realize she was wrong. I can tell that you two belong together."

"She's too stubborn to trust her own judgment. I doubt she'll ever realize how crazy about her I am." Draco added while he turned in the opposite direction of Ron and headed for his first class of the day.

A few weeks passed and February had already begun. Since Draco last talks with Ron, he had given up all hope of ever getting back with Hermione. Neither of them tried speaking to one another and Hermione spent several hours bugging Ginny to give some advice.

"Well you did break up with him. If I were him I wouldn't know what to do either." Ginny explained, "Are you going to Hogsmeade with anyone for Valentine's Day?" She changed the subject, pointing to the Hogsmeade trip announcement, pinned to the wall.

"Why would I want to do that?" Hermione asked glumly.

"You should go with Ron so both of you don't sit around the castle all day, unless he's worked up the courage to go with someone." Ginny suggested, doubting her brother.

"I guess I should go talk to him then…"

"Cheer up Hermione; it's not the end of the world." Ginny laughed and also left for the common room to find Harry.

They spotted the two boys playing wizard's chess by the blazing fire. Harry looked deep in thought, trying desperately not to lose, but Ron had already destroyed more than half of his pieces.

"Having fun?" Ginny questioned sitting next to them with Hermione.

"Quiet. I need to concentrate." Harry mumbled and continued staring at the board.

Ginny smirked, "It's okay, I'll still love you even if you lose."

"That's good to know." He replied and received a quick kiss on the cheek.

Hermione waited until Ron had taken Harry's king before she asked him about Valentine's Day. Ginny left with Harry to go for a walk on the grounds.

"Hey, Ron? Are you going to Hogsmeade with anyone next weekend for Valentine's Day?"

"Not that I know of. I was planning on sleeping all day." He laughed, gathering the chess pieces.

"So was I. Do you want to go with me? We could grab a butterbeer at the Three Broom Sticks or visit Honey dukes. It would be much better than sitting alone all day."

"I'd love to go with you. What time is it?" Ron smiled, happy that he would have something to do.

"Right now or the trip?"

"The trip."

"Oh, the carriages leave any time between twelve and six, but we have to be back at the school by nine."

"Do they always do that on Valentine's day trips?" Ron raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"I think so. But every other trip is usually from ten to five."

"How do you remember everything?"

"I don't know. It's just a habit I guess, in case I need to remember something at another time."

"What happens when your brain is filled to its maximum capacity?" Ron joked and received a glare from Hermione.

"So what time do you want to go on Saturday?"

"If we go later there wont be a long wait at the Three Broom Sticks. So does five thirty sound good? I'll meet you down in the Great Hall." Ron suggested trying to figure out how long they would probably be gone.

"That sounds good," Hermione agreed, "I've been meaning to start an essay for arithmancy that's due Thursday. I better go."

"I'll see you at dinner then." Ron added before Hermione left.

Ever since the Hogsmeade Valentine's Day trip had been announced, Draco had been followed around by several younger girls, hoping that he would ask one of them to go with him. At first he had just ignored them, but when they started waiting for him outside of bathrooms, he couldn't take it anymore.

"What do you girls want from me?!" Draco almost yelled, glaring slightly at them.

"S-sorry! We err… just wanted to know if you were going to Hogsmeade with anyone on Saturday. Are you?" One of the older girls from Hufflepuffs cautiously asked.

Draco considered his options. He could lie and say yes so they would stop following him, or he could tell the truth and say he's not going. Both options would work.

"I'm not going." He admitted as frowns fell upon the girls' faces.

"Is it because you still—"

"I have to go. Classes are starting soon and if I'm late for Potions, Snape will kill me." Draco said, cutting her off. He changed the direction he was walking in and headed down the nearest staircase.

He entered the dungeon classroom just in time and sat reluctantly next to Hermione. Lately, the class hadn't been making potions, but taking thousands of notes on the uses and effects of certain potion ingredients. Most of the students were glad because they couldn't mess up while making potions, but Draco and Hermione were thankful that they didn't have to work uncomfortably together.

An hour later and the bell had finally rung and the Gryffindors and Slytherins packed away their notes and quills with sore hands. Hermione neatly folded three rolls of parchment worth of notes as Draco placed his books in his bag.

"Hermione!" Seamus Finnegan called, making his way toward her desk, "Are you going to Hogsmeade with anyone for Valentine's Day?"

Hermione sensed Draco back stiffen as he listened carefully to their conversation.

"I'm already going with someone, sorry." She replied, noticing Draco fists clenched tightly with jealousy.

"Oh, who? Err… if you don't mind me asking." He asked, slightly surprised.

"Ron, but just as friends."

"Well maybe we could go together some other time." Seamus suggested, not caring that Draco was right there.

"Maybe," Hermione agreed halfheartedly, "I promised Ginny I would meet with her after classes today so I should probably get going." She stood up and Seamus handed her books.

"Okay, I'll see you later then." He said, disappointed.  
Before Hermione could leave the room, closely followed by Seamus, Draco pushed his way irritably through the other students and out of the room. If he had to listen to Seamus attempting to ask Hermione out any longer, he might strangle him.

Draco spent the rest of his Friday afternoon reading his advance potion making book in front of the common room fire. Hermione finally came back from the library where she had done some work with Ginny. Draco, not even looking at her, could tell that she had opened her mouth to say something, but closed it after some hesitation.

It was nearing time for dinner so Draco decided to close his book and find Blaise in the Great Hall. Before he could find him though, several more girls came rushing toward him.

"Hi Draco!" They all greeted him together.

"Hi." He replied and continued walking to the Slytherin table.

"Will you go to Hogsmeade with me?" One girl asked.

"Or me!" The rest suggested, desperately.

"No, I'm not going." Draco answered rudely. He had given up trying to be nice to them.

"I bet it's because you like another girl!" A blonde haired girl exclaimed from the back of the group.

"Yeah, and he just doesn't want to tell us!"

"Just stop it!" Draco snapped, nearly yelling and backed away from them, "Go find some other guy to annoy the bloody hell out of!" He finished leaving the girls shocked that he would be aggravated by their questions.

Draco had lost his appetite and began marching out of the Great Hall. He passed Blaise on the way.

"What was that about?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"A bunch of girls wondering if I would take them to Hogsmeade…"

Blaise laughed. "So, aren't you going to eat?"

"I'm not hungry anymore. I'm sick of this whole 'love' thing!" Draco confessed angrily.

"You'll get over it… Where are you going if you're not eating?"

"The owlery, I need to send a letter to someone." And with that, Draco left the Great Hall to get his quill and some parchment.


	19. Valentine's Day

Chapter 19: Valentine's Day

Chapter 19: Valentine's Day

"So you're going to Hogsmeade with Ron?" Ginny asked Hermione, making sure her friend wouldn't be locked in her lonely bedroom all day. It was Valentine's Day and they were eating breakfast before Ginny left with Harry.

"Yeah, but just as friends." Hermione reminded her, "We were thinking of going later so the Three Broomsticks isn't too crowded."

"You and Ron should have fun together," Ginny smiled and spotted her brother coming into the Great Hall with Harry, "Happy Valentine's Day!" She exclaimed, while putting her arms around Harry's neck. He gave her a quick kiss, seeing as Ron was watching, and handed her a small, neatly wrapped box.

"Open it later." He whispered and sat with Hermione and Ron, who were happily eating their toast.

After everyone ate, Ginny departed with Harry for the carriages. Ron and Hermione went back to the Gryffindor common room to spend the majority of the day together until they also left for Hogsmeade.

Five o'clock came and Hermione put down the book she was reading.

"Ron, should we leave for the carriages now?" She asked, startling Ron who was falling asleep by the fire.

"Sure, let me just grab my coat." He replied and ran to his dormitory to retrieve it.

Snow was slowly falling and the sky was already dark when they reached Hogsmeade. Ron took Hermione's hand to help her out of the carriage and they rushed into The Three Broomsticks before they froze.

Just as they had suspected, many of the students had already gone back to the castle and they didn't have to wait long for their warm butterbeers.

"I'll pay for it." Ron told Hermione as she searched her pockets for some sickles.

"Are you sure?" She questioned, feeling bad for letting him do this. "I'll just have to buy you something from Honey dukes then." Hermione laughed and took a sip from her butterbeer.

"If you insist." Ron smiled and handed Madam Rosmerta the wizard money.

They drank their butterbeer with conversations about several random topics such as when they would start studying for their N.E.W.T. exams.

"I've already started rereading some of my old schoolbooks." Hermione informed him. "I'm guessing you and Harry won't start until we're a month away."

"Most likely. I don't think I've looked at my notes all year. Mum will murder me if I fail more than two exams though." Ron said honestly.  
"This place always has the best butterbeer!" Hermione exclaimed after taking her final sip. "Should we see what they have at Honey dukes now?"

"We should put our coats on before we freeze to death out there, and then we can go." Ron agreed, his eyes glowing with the thought of all the sweets.

The quickly ran through the snow which was coming down harder than before and entered Ron's favorite place in Hogsmeade.

Hermione bought Ron several chocolate frogs and a package of Doubles Best Blowing Gum along with some sweets for herself. They were just about to check out another shop but Hermione suddenly felt light headed and sick.

"Ron, I think I need to sit down for a minute or two." She admitted after she could no longer walk without getting dizzy.

"Are you okay?" Ron asked worried about his friend. He helped her to the nearest shop and sat her down on a stool by the door.

"It must have been something I ate earlier." Hermione thought as Ron put his hand to her forehead.

"You're burning up. Let's go back to the castle so you can rest." He said frowning. He put his arm around her so she wouldn't fall as she walked with him to the carriages.

"Ginny! Come back!" The pair heard suddenly and saw Harry chasing after the youngest Weasley. "I said I was sorry! Stop overreacting!"

Ron stopped walking with Hermione as Ginny turned around and noticed that Ron and Hermione were watching. "What are you two fighting about?" Ron asked while Harry caught up with her.

"Harry was just being an ass because I got a Valentine's Day card from- well, I don't know who it's from, it was anonymous, but that doesn't matter because he should know that I would never cheat on him or be interested in another guy!" Ginny explained even though she was really just yelling at Harry some more.

"How many times do I have to say it?! I'm sorry! Now will you just come back to The Three Broomsticks with me and we can finish our drinks?" Harry asked frustrated. "Hermione are you feeling okay? You don't look too good."

"I think she has a fever. I was just bringing her back to the castle but we wanted to make sure everything was fine between you two." Ron told him. It was the first time he and ever seen them fight and if Harry had done something really stupid to his sister, he could have killed him on the spot to make it easier.

"Thanks." Ginny smiled even though her brother was being overprotective. "Feel better, Hermione!" She exclaimed and let Harry put his arms around her again.

Hermione would have said goodbye but kept her mouth shut for fear of seeing her food coming back up.

Once they were back at the castle and near the Gryffindor tower, Hermione felt slightly better. Ron insisted that he should walk her to her own common room but Hermione finally convinced him that she would be fine walking back by herself. She thanked Ron for the great evening but apologized for having to cut it short, and began her slow walk to the Head common room.

Draco had sat on the couch in front of the common room fire all day. He had received several letters from more annoying girls and without reading them, threw them into the flames. He had fallen asleep several times during the afternoon and when he was awake he was doing work or reading. He had just woken up from one of his shorter naps and flipped through several pages of his newest book when the common room door burst open. Draco looked up just in time to see a mass of bushy hair before Hermione collapsed on the floor.

"Shit!" Draco exclaimed, jumping up to see what had happened. Hermione was sprawled across the floor with her eyes closed.

He carefully picked her up and placed her on the couch where he had just been sitting. Her eyes slowly opened and a look of panic rapidly spread across her face.

"Hermione?" Draco asked before she jumped up and hurried into the bathroom. Draco followed her to see if she was okay.

He entered the bathroom and found Hermione bent over the toilet. Draco stomach flipped at the sight but went to help her anyway. He conjured up a glass of water with his wand and nervously held Hermione's hair back while she continued what she was doing.

Finally, she lifted her head and cleaned herself up.

"Thanks." Hermione said weakly, not looking at Draco who nodded his acknowledgement. She shivered suddenly. "It's freezing in here…"

"You should go lay down." Draco suggested, noticing that she was wearing several layers but was still cold. He helped her walk shakily into her bedroom and sat her on her bed. Like Ron did, Draco put his hand to her forehead. "You have a fever. Go to sleep for now and in the morning you can see Madam Pomfrey."

Hermione went under the covers without changing her clothes but she couldn't get warm. Draco was about to leave when she shivered again.

"Do you have any warmer clothes?" He asked. "Any holies or something comfortable?" Hermione shook her head and pulled the covers closer to her body.

"I'll go get one of mine if you want." Draco suggested and left the room to retrieve one. He handed it to Hermione when he got back in the room and found that she reluctantly came out from under the warm covers to change into pajama pants while he was gone. He handed her one of his holies and turned around as she put it on.

"Thanks again." Hermione said, trying to smile but was too busy trying to keep warm.

"Welcome." Draco mumbled as Hermione once again went under her covers. "Do you want me to stay here and make sure you're okay?" He questioned, seeing her shiver once more.

"That would be nice." Hermione replied already half-asleep. Draco turned the light off and carefully sat on the edge of the bed.

Eventually Hermione fell asleep, so Draco stood up, thinking that she would be fine for the rest of the night. Before leaving the room though, he heard Hermione crawl into a ball under the covers to keep the heat in.

Draco sighed, regretting what he was thinking of doing, but Hermione looked freezing even though she was really burning from the fever. He silently walked over to her bed and as quietly as he could, went under the covers and wrapped his arms around her body. She immediately stopped trembling and let go of the many covers.

Draco closed his eyes and inhaled her scent. He missed her even though she might not miss him. Then again, she was the one that said it would be nice if he stayed with her. Draco let his thoughts drift away and soon he found himself falling asleep, the happiest he had been in weeks.


	20. Sorry

Chapter 20: Sorry

Chapter 20: Sorry

Hermione opened her eyes to see the bright sun reflecting off of the snow on the window. Slowly turning her head, she saw that Draco was still there; sound asleep, with his arm around her. She was no longer freezing, but instead was sweating under all of her covers. Hermione felt slightly better but thought it would be a good idea to see Madam Pomfrey as Draco had suggested the night before.

She tried carefully to move without waking Draco but instead he pulled her closer and tightened his hold on her. After several more attempts, Hermione gave up trying to be careful and threw his arm off of her while standing up. Draco groaned in his sleep and attempted to put his arm back around Hermione. Failing, seeing as she was no longer next to him, he fell back into a deep sleep.

After getting changed, Hermione started for the Hospital Wing. She was nearly there when Ginny spotted her on her way to the library.

"Are you feeling better?" She asked once Hermione stopped walking.

"Sort of. I was on my way to see Madam Pomfrey." Hermione replied.

"Good idea." Ginny nodded in approval.

"It wasn't mine. It was Draco." She admitted, causing Ginny to raise an eyebrow.

"You talked to Draco?"

"Well, not really. He just took care of me last night and made sure I was alright." She said. Ginny wanted to hear the whole story, so Hermione explained what she could remember from the previous night, plus what happened that morning.  
"That was awfully nice of him, seeing as you broke his heart." Ginny said when Hermione finished.

"I know… But what if he hates me even more for making him stay with me all night?" Hermione asked, knowing that Ginny always gave good advice.

"He can't hate you. How many times did he say he loved you before you went and broke up with him?"

"Err… Several times," Hermione thought, "Okay, many, many times…"

"So if he loved you that much then I don't think he could hate you even after what happened."

"Fine. You're right. Thanks for your help." Hermione hugged Ginny.

"Hold on! Aren't you still sick?" Ginny laughed, pushing her away. "I'm surprised Draco isn't sick after sleeping with you all night."

"Oh, I hope he isn't…" Hermione said as a worried look spread across her face. "I should go to the hospital wing now and see what Madam Pomfrey can do for me."

"Get better soon!" Ginny added and continued to the library.

Draco woke up late the next morning, expecting to see Hermione lying next to him, but she was nowhere to be found. He got up, noticing that she had placed his housie on the edge of the bed, took a quick shower and left for the Great Hall, hoping he could find her there.

"Blaise!" Draco called as he hurried past the other tables, scanning for Hermione at the Gryffindor one. "Have you seen Hermione?"

"Good morning to you too." Blaise mumbled back sleepily, making room on the bench for his friend.

"Just answer the question. I need to talk to her."

"Why? Did something happen?"

"I slept with her." Draco answered, not thinking.

"You slept with Granger?"

"Yes." He nodded, wondering why Blaise had a disbelieving look on his face.

"You slept with Granger?" He asked again. Finally, Draco realized what he had said.

"No! No, I didn't mean like that! She was sick and asked if I would stay with her so I fell asleep with her." Draco explained, ready to hit Blaise. "Have you seen her this morning?"

Blaise thought for a few seconds. "Yeah, I think I saw her talking to the Weasley girl."

"Ginny?"  
"Sure."

"Where?"

"Near the library. Can I go back to eating now?"

"Yes. I need to find Hermione, though. I'll see you later."

"You do that." Blaise said with his mouth filled with the muffin he just took a bite out of.

Draco practically ran out of the Great Hall and through the corridors to the library. He turned the corner and bumped into someone, knocking them over.

"Sorry." He mumbled, quickly gathering the girl's books. "Oh. It's you." He said when he noticed it was Ginny.

"Good job, it's me." Ginny smiled sarcastically.

"Have… Have you seen Hermione?" Draco asked with slight hesitation.

"Do you hate her?"

"No, why would I ever hate her?" He questioned, finding it to be a stupid thing to ask.

"Well, she was afraid that you would hate her even more because she sort of told you to stay with her last night." Ginny explained, taking her books from Draco.

"How do you know— she tells you everything, doesn't she?" Draco concluded, hoping that she kept her promise and never told Ginny about him being a Death Eater.

"Not everything, but she does tell me a lot." Ginny said. "So you don't hate her?"

"No." Said Draco, shaking his head.

"Good. I told her that you probably didn't hate her. She took your advice and went to the hospital wing." She told him, stepping out of his way.

"Thanks, and sorry about knocking you over."

"It's okay. Go talk to Hermione or whatever you were going to do." Ginny instructed and Draco obeyed by making his way to the hospital wing.

He silently opened the door and found himself face-to-face with Madam Pomfrey.

"What are you here for?" She snapped, taking bottles out of the cupboard next to Draco.

"Err… is Hermione Granger here?" He whispered while looking over her shoulder at the beds.

"She's asleep."

"Well, can I just leave her a note then?" Draco asked, taking out a piece of parchment and his quill from his book bag.

"Sure, but don't disturb her or the other patients. Visiting hours are from three to seven. Maybe she'll be awake if you come back then." The witch informed him and entered her office.

Draco quickly scribbled a few words on the parchment, folded it, and placed it on Hermione's nightstand along with cards from Ginny, Harry, and Ron. Taking one final glance at Hermione, he turned and went to find Blaise. He needed to take his mind off of her and Blaise was probably the only thing that would do the trick.

"Miss Granger? Are you awake?" Hermione heard Madam Pomfrey call from somewhere nearby. She slowly opened her eyes as they adjusted to the dim light.

"Yes?" Hermione asked, sitting up in her bed.

"You look a lot better. I'm just going to take your temperature to see if the fever is gone." She explained and placed a wizard thermometer in Hermione's mouth.

After a minute or two of waiting, the thermometer stopped going up and Madam Pomfrey took it out.

"Just as I suspected, you're fever is gone and you may return to your dormitory if you would like. It's past curfew so I can write you a note incase Mr. Filch or anyone finds you. Or if you wish to, you can stay her for the night."

"I'll return to my dormitory, thanks." Hermione replied, swinging her legs over the side of the bed and standing up.

"Some of your friends left you get well cards. Don't forget to bring them with you." Madam Pomfrey reminded her while writing her note.

Before leaving, Hermione decided to read the cards while there was enough light to see them. Ron and Harry's cards were very amusing and Hermione had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing, while Ginny's made Hermione smile with its creativity. Finally she curiously opened the fourth letter and read it.

I'm sorry.  
Love,  
Draco

Hermione carefully closed the letter. There was a knot in her heart and tears gradually formed in the corners of her eyes. She brushed them away while standing up and hurried out the door, hoping that Draco hadn't fallen asleep yet though she had no idea what time it was.

She opened the portrait hole to the common room and saw Draco door was ajar and he was sleeping. Silently, Hermione took her quill and parchment off of her desk and wrote Draco a note in response to his. She tiptoed into his room and placed the note on his bedside table.

Once she left the room, Draco, who had been awake the whole time, whispered "Lumos_._" and read the note.

Draco,  
You have nothing to be sorry about. You never did anything and you were never going to. I made a terrible mistake. Please forgive me.  
Love,  
Hermione


	21. If You Want To

Chapter 21: If You Want To

Chapter 21: If You Want To

"So did you talk to Granger yesterday like you wanted to?" Blaise asked the following morning as he caught up with Draco on his way to breakfast.

"Sort of. I left her a note." Draco replied and kept walking.

"Slow down. Why are you in such a hurry this morning?" He asked, trying to stop his friend.

"Hermione wrote me a note back so I'm going to talk to her now."

"About what?"

"Do you only ask question?" Draco finally stopped, irritated by the stupid questions. Blaise shook his head. "Okay, then can you move? I need to get down to the Great Hall in case she leaves and I don't get the chance to talk with her."

Blaise stepped to the side and let Draco pass. "Good luck with whatever you're going to talk about."

"Thanks." Draco laughed slightly and continued down the marble staircases.

When he entered the Great Hall, his eyes quickly moved over to the Gryffindor table but Hermione wasn't there. However, he easily found the two Weasley's and their red hair. They were eating breakfast with Potter. Draco maneuvered past the group of annoying girls and up to where they were sitting.

"Where's Hermione?" He asked impatiently.

"She said she was going to the library and then she had Arithmancy." Ginny stated, trying to remember what Hermione had said before leaving.

"Why do you ask?" Harry rudely cut in.

"None of your business." Draco sneered, noticing a strange look on Ginny's face. "Why are you smiling at me like that?"

"Because Hermione told me everything this morning." Ginny said, receiving looks from Harry and Ron who wanted to know what she meant.

"So. That doesn't mean you know what I'm going to say to her."

"I seriously doubt you're going to talk to her about the weather or something other than what I'm thinking." Ginny rolled her eyes. Ron staring in confusion with his mouth half open while Harry sat there, frantically trying to figure out what was going on.

"Okay, fine. But how do you know it's going to turn out that way?"

"Because I just know it. Plus, if it doesn't, Harry and Ron will hurt you." She concluded and nodded at them.

"Whatever... I should go to class." Draco said, not wanting to talk with them any longer. "Thanks for that lovely chat." He added sarcastically and headed out the nearest door.

When the morning classes finally ended, Draco was held back with the rest of his transfiguration class. Professor McGonagall insisted on completing the lesson by having the classes write a short paper on how they were preparing for their N.E.W.T. transfiguration exams. Almost the entire class sat staring blankly at their parchment, wondering how they were supposed to write an essay about that.

Once Draco figured out how to do it, he anxiously handed her his roll of parchment. By the time he was in the Great Hall to find Hermione, he had several minutes to hurry off to his next class.

Luckily, Draco last class of the day was Potions. He would definitely see Hermione there and would get the chance to pull her aside afterward to talk to her. The class started right away and there were no pauses in the note-taking that would allow him to catch Hermione's eye or say anything. If he did, Snape seemed like he might actually take points from his own house, so Draco focused on his potions book.

The class heard the bell ring and everyone thankfully put their quills down. Draco opened his mouth to speak to Hermione but he was too late. Seamus Finnegan had beaten him to it. How could that be? He thought as he stared dumbfounded while they spoke with each other. I'm sitting right next to her. He must be really desperate...

"You said maybe we could do something together soon, so I just wanted to know if you wanted to go for a walk in the snow with me tomorrow, well if it's still there." Seamus asked, looking at the ground and shuffling his feet.

"I'm really sorry once again, but I was planning on hanging out with Ginny. Harry and Ron were going to play a game of wizard chess and we wanted to watch Harry lose again." Hermione laughed at the thought. "I know it sounds stupid but it's loads of fun."

"Oh, well maybe I'll see you in the common room then."

"That would be nice." She smiled and Seamus continued talking to her as he leads her out of the classroom. Draco shook his head and smirked, knowing that Hermione had made the story up. He left the classroom after them and went back to the empty Head's common room until that evening.

Draco sat on the leather couch, watching the fire, when his stomach growled. He got up, realizing it was time for supper, and made his way to where the food would be.

The moment he stepped inside the Great Hall, his gray eyes began searching the Gryffindor table once again for the familiar head of bushy brown hair. Draco immediately spotted her sitting with her usual group of friends, staring off at nothing in particular. Not knowing what he was going to say, he approached her just as Ginny pointed at him and Hermione slowly turned around.

"Hi." He said.

"Hi." She repeated nervously, Ginny, Harry, and Ron watching intently.

"Err... can we talk? Somewhere private?" Draco asked and noticed that his hands were shaking.

Hermione looked at her friends as they nodded for her to leave. "Sure." She said quietly and Draco could tell she felt the same way he did.

They left the Great Hall together and found an empty classroom in the closest corridor. Draco closed the door behind them and locked it in case someone decided they would listen to the conversation. Hermione sat on a desk near the back of the room and Draco paused at first but sat next to her.

There was an uncomfortable silence before Draco spoke, "Hermione, I... I really miss you."

"I miss you too." Hermione admitted after much hesitation. "I hated myself for breaking up with you. When you took care of me the other night I knew I could trust you. I don't know what happened or why I said any of those things to you weeks ago and I hope you don't hate me."

"Why do you keep thinking that I hate you?" Draco asked after hearing what Ginny had to say the previous day. "I could never hate you."

"I just thought that after everything that had happened and how I hurt you, you would hate me." Hermione replied quietly and brushed the forming tears from her eyes.

"You hurt me, yes, but it was because I loved you so much and I couldn't let you go. Trust me on this one. I don't hate you." Draco told her and smiled a little.

"So now what?" Hermione asked, not sure of what would happen next.

"Do you trust me?"

"Yes."

"Are you willing to return the same feelings I have for you?"

"Yes."

"Can I beat the living daylights out of Seamus Finnegan?"

"What--? No!" Hermione exclaimed and hit his arm. She turned on the desk to face him.

"Okay, I won't." Draco smirked and moved a little closer to her.

"Do you forgive me? Can we put this in our past?" Hermione asked, hoping he would say yes.

"If you want to, then sure." Draco smiled, looking deep into her eyes. "Can I kiss you?" He then whispered, his lips almost touching hers.

"If you want to." Hermione repeated quietly. She closed her eyes as Draco lips collided with her own and he kissed her passionately.

"Do you still love me?" Hermione asked, breaking the kiss momentarily.

Draco held her close, their faces still less than an inch apart. "Only if you want me to." He stated and brushed his lips against hers one more time.


	22. We Need To Talk

Chapter 22: We Need to Talk

Chapter 22: We Need to Talk

"Ginny!" Hermione exclaimed, bursting into the girls' dormitory in the Gryffindor Tower.

"What's going on?" The redhead asked, putting down her quill and parchment.

"We're back together!" She squealed, a huge grin across her face.

"I knew it! He was looking for you this morning and he wouldn't admit that I knew why he wanted to talk to you." Ginny smirked. "So, tell me all about it."

Hermione recalled what had occurred only a few hours ago and how Draco had to leave for Quidditch practice, leaving her able to inform her friends.

"There's just one problem," Hermione continued after telling Ginny everything that had happened, "Seamus Finnegan keeps trying to get me on a date with him and I told him that you and I were going to watch Harry and Ron play wizard chess tomorrow."

Ginny raised an eyebrow. "We are?"

"I guess we are now, but I don't want him hovering around me, attempting to ask me on another date, so do you want to just hang out in my common room with Harry and Ron?"

"That plan doesn't sound as bad as I thought it might." Ginny confirmed after thinking about it. "I'll tell the boys if I see them tonight."

"Thanks, I'll see you tomorrow at breakfast." Hermione replied, hoping off the bed and leaving for her own dormitory.

The next morning, Hermione found a note from Draco which had been magically placed on her door. It explained how he already went down for breakfast and he would see her at lunch. Sighing slightly, she walked alone to the Great Hall where she found her three friends at the Gryffindor table and Draco with Blaise and Pansy at the Slytherin table. Hermione caught Draco eye and smiled at him before sitting next to Ron.

She began eating various breakfast foods while conversing with Ron, Ginny, and Harry. They all agreed to spend the evening in Hermione and Draco common room and play chess. The group had several minutes before they had to go to class, when Seamus approached Hermione and sat next to her.

"Did you figure out when you have free time this week so we can spend some time together?" He asked Hermione casually.

"Err… about that," Hermione began, not knowing whether she should tell him that she was back with Draco, "You know how I broke up with Draco? Well, we talked last night and we're in a relationship again."

"Oh." Seamus said, disappointed, "We can still do things together can't we?"

"I don't know. Draco may not like that." Hermione replied, trying to be nice. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder and saw that it belonged to Seamus. "I have to go to class." She quickly said and waved goodbye to her friends while rushing into the nearest corridor.

Hermione turned the corner without looking and crashed into someone. She looked up from where the floor where she fell and saw that it was Draco.

"What the hell was that Finnegan idiot doing this morning?" He asked, looking angry and jealous. He put out a hand and pulled Hermione off the floor.

"He was trying to find out when we could spend time together. I told him I was back with you and the next thing I knew he had his arm around me!" She exclaimed in slight disgust.

"I'm going to kill him!" Draco said through gritted teeth and began heading for the door. Hermione grabbed his arm.

"No! It's fine… I'll just avoid him or something. If he bothers me again, you can talk to him but don't beat him up or anything!"

"If that's what you want, then sure, but I'm only doing it because you said so." Draco said stiffly.

"I'll see you after classes." Hermione told him after checking her watch. She gave him a quick kiss and climbed the staircase to her left as Draco went in the opposite direction.

"I know you overheard me telling Seamus that I was going to watch Harry and Ron play chess tonight with Ginny." Hermione said to Draco, after class had ended and she was doing work in the common room with him. "Well, I doubt you want me to go to the Gryffindor common room and have him trying to get close to me even though I told him we were back together, so I'm having Harry, Ron, and Ginny here tonight after supper."  
"Good, I'd rather not have you near him." Draco replied, protectively and remembered what Seamus had tried to do that morning. He looked back at his parchment and continued the assignment he had been working on.

"I can't wait for our N.E.W.T. exams to finally be over." Hermione broke the silence some time later, "We'll have much more time to be together and then when school ends, we'll have even more time." She smiled and put her Charms book on the table. Draco looked uncomfortable.

"Hermione, we need to talk." He said timidly, but he knew he would have to tell her eventually.

A worried look of slight panic appeared on Hermione's face. She stood up and began walking towards her bedroom. Draco grabbed her hands and pulled her back. "Sit down, it's just a talk, don't worry." He said and let out a nervous laugh.

Hermione sat on the couch next to him but her placed her on his lap and continued holding her hands.

"Remember in the beginning of the school year, you asked me what I would want to do after Hogwarts?"

"Yes, you said you might want to teach potions." Hermione replied instantly, not having to think.

"Well, there is this school in southern France and it only teaches potions. It's a lot like Hogwarts, but the only class is potions." Draco explained, unsure of how to continue. "Earlier this year, before we were together, I sent an application to that school and I was accepted. Then we started going out and I wasn't sure if I wanted to go anymore because I didn't want to leave you, but then we broke up. I thought you would never want to be with me again and… and I just snapped around Valentine's Day. I was sick of all the girls following me and I was sick of love. So, I went to the owlery and sent a letter to the school, saying that I would be attending it after Hogwarts."

"Why does this matter?" Hermione asked and noticed Draco was frowning slightly, "We can still see each other and be together, right?"

"The first classes start only a few days after Hogwarts ends." Draco continued, brushing a piece of Hermione's hair behind her ear. "The course I'm taking runs all year. We only get off on holidays and Sundays, and there aren't any vacations or anything. It's a really intense school and only wizards and witches with really high grades get in."

"Does this mean that we won't see each other for a year?" Hermione questioned, feeling tears about to form.

"A little more than three years, actually." Draco replied sadly.

"Three years?!' She exclaimed in disbelief.

"Like I said, it's a really intense school." He repeated, aware that Hermione had slowly begun to cry. He wiped a tear off of her cheek and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. "It'll be okay, I'll write to you as much as I can and if an opportunity comes along, I promise I'll come back to visit you."

"What if the long-distance relationship doesn't work, or if you have too much work and can't find time to write?" Hermione asked, lifting her head from his shoulder.

"Don't worry about it. I'll find time to write even if it means staying up all night. Everything will be fine as long as we keep each other informed about what's been going on and we write back the moment we get a letter." Draco said.

"I guess so. But I'm r—really going to miss you while you're gone." She sniffled and put her head back down as he leaned his head against hers.

"I'm going to miss you too." He agreed, placing a kiss on her head.

They sat there for a long time as Hermione cried into his shoulder and Draco wiped away her tears with his hand. Hermione was just calming down when they heard a knock at the door.

"That's probably my friends." She said, looking at the back of the portrait hole.

"Go wash your face so it doesn't look like you were crying. I'll let them in." Draco told her and kissed her cheek before she left for the bathroom.

Draco opened the portrait hole and let Hermione's friends inside.

"Hermione's in the bathroom, she'll be out soon. You can just sit on the couch or wherever." He told them, not wanting to have a full conversation. "I'm going to study some more." He added before picking his books up and walking to his room.

Hermione came out of the bathroom several minutes later and greeted her friends. Harry and Ron were carrying their chess pieces and had set the board on the table. Ginny was sitting in the chair next to the fire.

"Are you alright Hermione?" Ginny asked, noticing Hermione's eyes looked a little red.

"Yeah. Why do you ask?"

"You look like you've been crying." Ginny stated

"No she doesn't." Harry disagreed, staring at Hermione.

"Yes, she does." Ron argued, putting his bewitched chess pieces on the board.

"I wasn't crying. I sneezed before while I was in the bathroom and my eyes got all teary." Hermione lied, sitting opposite Ginny, who gave her a disbelieving look. Hermione made sure the boys weren't watching before mouthing "I'll tell you later". Ginny nodded and the two of them spent the rest of the night watching Harry lose spectacularly to Ron.


	23. Studying

Chapter 23: Studying

Chapter 23: Studying

"Hermione, I know how you feel," Ginny started after Hermione told her about Draco leaving for three years.

"But you'll only be away from Harry for a year and you can visit on Holidays…" Hermione mumbled into her pillow. She was laying face-down on her bed and Ginny was sitting next to her.

"So maybe I don't know exactly how you feel but I'm still going to be upset… It's just one problem after another with you two, isn't it?" Ginny laughed slightly, trying to brighten the mood. The rain pelting against the nearby window wasn't helping much though.

Hermione just sighed in agreement.

"Where is Draco anyway?" Ginny asked, noticing that he wasn't in his room.

"Quidditch." Hermione groaned miserably. "We can hardly spend any time together. It's either Quidditch or studying."

"Why don't you two study together?"

"Neither of us can work like that. We both have our own ways of studying and memorizing notes. It would just end up in another fight."

"You sound dead Hermione." Ginny admitted, becoming a little annoyed.

"I feel dead." She replied in a monotone voice.

"Please try to cheer-up! The world won't end when Draco goes to that school! You'll both write to each other and if anything bad happens, Harry, Ron and I will be there for you!" An irritated Ginny exclaimed and nudged her stubborn friend.

Hermione lifted her head. She could feel a lump rising in her throat and tears beginning to form. "I don't want anything to happen," She choked out, "I don't want him to leave."

"I know you don't but Draco already said he was going and they won't be happy if he writes a letter back saying he can't go after all."

"Who care's if they're happy. What about me?"

"We'll take care of you! Don't worry, Hermione. Nothing bad is going to happen." Ginny reassured her, and stood up. "I should get back to the common room. Harry's probably wondering where I am. See you tomorrow." She said and left for the Gryffindor tower.

"Bye." Was all Hermione said before she threw her head onto the pillow again and let her tears flow freely down her cheeks.

She lay in the same position for a while until she heard the portrait hole open and close again. Draco had returned from practice. Hermione listened as his footsteps became louder and soon she felt him sit next to her on the bed.

"Hey." He greeted her quietly, brushing the hair out of her teary eyes.

"Hi." Hermione responded as Draco leaned over and placed a soft kiss on her cheek.

"You know I hate seeing you upset." He said with a slightly pained expression.

"Sorry, I just need to accept the fact that you're leaving and get over it." Hermione admitted sadly and sat up. Draco wrapped an arm around her waist.

"I promise I'll always love you, no matter how far apart we are or what happens between us. We've got these next few months together so don't think about it and we'll be fine." He reassured her.

Many days had passed and nothing had changed much. It was now the first week in May and the N.E.W.T. exams were in two weeks. Slytherin had lost their Quidditch match, leaving the final match between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw.

Hermione had made a strong effort to spend as much time with Draco as possible. Even though they studied separately, they still sat with each other in the common room and used their free time (which wasn't often) to go for walks around the school grounds in the warm spring weather.

Harry and Ron were even busy with school work, making a noticeable effort to not fail the upcoming exams. They had to balance their studies with Quidditch though and that was proving difficult. Ginny was starting to feel like Hermione, realizing her time left with Harry at school was winding down.

The seventh years were beginning to panic about their exams and were constantly seen walking around with books under their noses, trying to memorize everything they possibly could.

"Have you seen my transfiguration book?!" Hermione asked frantically, looking under the sofa in her common room. "I had it only a few hours ago and can't remember where I put it!"

"I'm sure it'll turn up somewhere." Draco replied and stood up to lazily check his room for the missing book.

"But I need it now! How am I supposed to study the last few pages if I don't have the book?!" Hermione cried out in a frustrated tone, pushing Draco out of the way to search his room too.

He quickly grabbed her shoulders and spun her around to face him. She tried pulling away. "Stop Draco! That book is important!"

"Like I said, I'm sure we'll find it eventually." He repeated and continued preventing Hermione from getting free of his hold.

"What if we don't get it before the exam? What if I fail it?!" Hermione insisted getting angry with Draco.

"Hermione, you need to calm down." Draco told her and looked out the window to the Quidditch stadium. "The final Quidditch match is later today. How about we go watch Potter's perfect team kill the Ravenclaws and take a break from the studying. I think both of us could use one and we can spend time together without a book between us."

Hermione considered the offer. "I don't know… I still have so much to—"

"There's only a few weeks left until graduation and then I'm leaving so please just give yourself a break and come watch the match with me." He said moving his hands from her shoulders to her own hands.

"Fine… But we're coming back right after it so you can help me find that book."

"You don't want to celebrate?" Draco raised an eyebrow but realized Hermione didn't seem like the party type of person.

"How do you know Gryffindors going to win?"

"Because Gryffindor has won the Quidditch final for the past three years and they destroyed Slytherin and Hufflepuffs already this year."

"Fair point. But you did put up a good fight against Harry before he nearly knocked you off your broom!" Hermione said and Draco cringed.

"I don't know what I ever did to him…"

"I wonder_._" Hermione said sarcastically and rolled her eyes. "Maybe the hate between you two will eventually go away."

"Maybe." Draco laughed and started leading Hermione down to the Quidditch pitch.

The game lasted several hours and ended in a violent battle for the snitch between Harry and the Ravenclaw seeker. Harry caught the snitch, but not without receiving a bloody nose from being hit with a bludger, and bruises from the other seeker trying to knock him off his broom.

Ron played great defense and only let one of the many shots through the hoops behind him. The Gryffindor chasers scored six goals, bringing the final total to 210 points to Ravenclaws pathetic 10 points.

The Gryffindors all rushed onto the field to celebrate their victory as the other three houses retreated to their common rooms. Hermione was about to follow and continue studying but Draco grabber her hand before she could escape.

"Where are you going?" He asked, pulling her closer to him.

"Draco, please, I need to study." Hermione complained.

"No, you're going to go down to the field and have some fun with your friends."

"What'll happen if I don't?" She questioned curiously.

Draco thought for a moment, "Err… I'll burn all of your notes and books tonight while you're asleep."

"No!" Hermione exclaimed as if the thought would make her cry, "Don't even joke about that!"

"Then let's go." Draco smirked and pushed through the crowd with Hermione so she could congratulate her friends.

She and Draco found Ginny who was sitting on a bench with Harry as Madame Pomfrey healed his small injuries.

"Congratulations Harry!" Hermione exclaimed as if her mood suddenly changed.

"Yeah, good match Potter." Draco admitted through clenched teeth. Harry thanked both of them and Madame Pomfrey left after cleaning him up.

"Where's Ron?" Hermione asked Ginny. She pointed over Hermione's shoulder. Ron was talking nervously with a man they had never seen before.

"Who is he?" Draco asked bluntly, staring behind him.

"The captain of the Chudley Cannons," Harry informed them, "He offered me a spot on their team but I told him of my plans to become an auror. Ron on the other hand was asked to be their backup keeper in case theirs got injured. He nearly fainted when the guy asked."

"Wow! That's great!" Hermione smiled widely, "Is he going to take the position?"

"Probably, he has nothing better to do and he always dreamed up playing for the Cannons." Ginny spoke, proud of her brother.

"Tell him congratulations for me! You two can go celebrate. I'm going to study more." Hermione said and before Draco could react, she swiftly turned around and went back to her dormitory.


	24. Last Days Together

Chapter 24: Last Days Together

Chapter 24: Last Days Together

"Finally, they're over!" Draco exclaimed, spotting Hermione as he walked out of the Great Hall,

"Now, will you spend these last few days with me? No complaining about how horrible you thought you did on the exams, because I know you received perfect marks. It's impossible for you to have gotten less than an outstanding with all the studying you did."

"Fine, I won't say a word about them." Hermione agreed, blushing slightly due to the fact that she was just about to ask what he had gotten for the last question.

Their final exam was over at last. A small graduation ceremony would take place in several days and they would be sent home the following afternoon. Draco snaked his arm around Hermione as they walked outside to sit by the lake.

"Promise you won't burst into tears or anything. Just make these last days' ones to remember."

"I promise." Hermione smiled, but inside she knew it would be hard.

"What are we going to do after the ceremony?" Draco asked, still unsure of his plans.

"What is there to do?"

"I think Dumbledore mentioned something about a feast in the Great Hall. Plus, I'm sure the houses will be partying in their common rooms until the sun rises. Were you thinking of spending your last night in the Gryffindor common room?"

"I have to think about it. Maybe I'll spend an hour or two there and then go back to our own dormitory. What are your plans?" She asked, hoping he would do the same.

"I was going to party with my fellow Slytherins all night. I'll probably get drunk if they can sneak some fire whisky inside the castle and I won't remember anything the next day." Draco stated bluntly. Hermione frowned in disappointment.

"That sounds great." She said, trying to be happy.

"You can't seriously think I would do that?" Draco smirked and moved closer to Hermione, "You couldn't pay me all the galleons in the world to spend my last night away from you. I think I'll go with your plan, except the Slytherin common room instead of the Gryffindor one."

"Don't fool me like that! I almost broke out into tears again." Hermione smiled as Draco planted his lips on hers.

"But you look so cute when you're confused…" He laughed teasingly.

"You can't stand seeing me upset though and I felt my heart drop at the thought of not being with you for our last night together."

"That's true, but at first you seemed pretty confused." Draco said, lying on the grass. Hermione leaned back and placed her head on Draco rising and falling chest. They lay by the lake until the sun had set and the stars started coming out.

"Therefore, congratulations to this remarkable group of witches and wizards!" Albus Dumbledore exclaimed after a very elaborate speech at the small graduation ceremony.

The students were seated on the castle grounds, dressed in their Hogwarts robes for the last time. Parents applauded from the back as each witch and wizard proceeded to shake the hands of their teachers and headmaster.

"Now," Dumbledore began at the very end of the ceremony, "I welcome the parents and the students to join us in a feast which will be held in the Great Hall."

There was a slight uproar as the crowd traveled back through the oak doors and into the Great Hall. The four house tables had been removed again and were replaced with small round tables. Hermione found her parents, who seemed utterly amazed at their first view of Hogwarts. They joined Harry, Ron, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley at one of the tables.

Draco had decided it would be best to sit with Blaise and Pansy, seeing as Ron's parents would shoot dirty looks at him the whole time.

The meal went very slowly and all Hermione could think about was Draco leaving the following day. She could see him from across the hall. He hardly spoke to his friends as if he were in deep thought. When the plates cleared from the table and parents began filing out onto the grounds, Hermione could hardly wait to be with Draco.

Hermione said goodbye to the Weasley's and watched Harry and Ron retreat to the Gryffindor tower. Draco waited until he could no longer see Mr. and Mrs. Weasley before approaching Hermione and her parents.

"This is Draco," Hermione introduced him once he stood next to her, and "You remember me telling you we were dating?"

"Yes, it was in one of your letters. Nice to meet you." Mrs. Granger smiled politely.

"You too." He replied, nervously shaking her hand and Hermione's father's.

"Are you sure we haven't met before? You look so familiar." Mr. Granger stated, staring at Draco, trying to figure out where he saw him.

"Err… I don't think we've met before." Draco insisted, remembering that they were there when his father fought with Mr. Weasley in Flourish and Blotts. That probably wouldn't leave a good impression.

"You're probably right. We should leave before we miss the train."

"We'll see you tomorrow Hermione!" Mrs. Granger said excitedly before hugging her daughter and turning to go.

"Good bye Mr. and Mrs. Granger." Draco called after them, being polite. Once they closed the great oak doors, he put his arm around Hermione and smiled slightly. "I'll see you later."

"Don't stay too late or get drunk or anything that would ruin our last night together."

"I won't, I promise." He laughed and kissed her quickly. They parted at the stairs as Draco headed for the dungeons and Hermione went to the Gryffindor tower.

The sound that filled her ears as she climbed through the Fat Lady's portrait was immense. Ron had been sent fireworks from Fred and George along with other noise-making items. Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan had gone to the kitchens and brought back dozens of sweets and drinks. Someone had even acquired a few bottles of fire whiskey, which Ron seemed to enjoy.

Hermione saw Harry and Ginny snagging the life out of each other, as usual, and made a note to avoid them. The only person that seemed to be in the right state of mind was Neville Longbottom who was sitting by the fire, eating something from the kitchens.

She pushed through the crowded room to get to Neville when she felt a hand on her shoulder. It spun her around and to her horror, the owner was Seamus. Hermione panicked as he pulled her head towards his in an attempt to kiss her. She quickly threw him off of her, causing people to look. Ron noticed and staggered over. Before Hermione could stop him in his drunken state, he threw a punch at Seamus' face and soon the whole common room became ten times crazier.

Nothing could be done to stop the mess as several more people joined the fight. Seamus' nose was bleeding, Ron was doubled over in pain on the floor, and some of the more aware guys were trying to break up the fight. Hermione decided there was no point in staying, and definitely did not want to get into trouble on her last day at school, so she exited the common room and returned to her own.

The common room was empty when Hermione arrived. Part of her was hoping that Draco would leave his party early too, but part of her knew that he also wanted to spend time with his friends before leaving. Hermione sat miserably on the couch for nearly two hours before the portrait hole opened quietly.

"How long have you been waiting?" Draco asked, worried that he stayed too late.

"A while… Everyone was so drunk that I had to leave." She told him, leaving out the part involving Seamus. She didn't want to make him angry.

Draco sat next to Hermione on the couch and kissed her softly. He put his arms around her as their kissing became more intense, and soon he found himself on top of her. Hermione's hands moved through Draco hair and made their way to his shirt, which she lifted over his head, ignoring the dark mark on his left arm. Draco began to unbutton Hermione's top when he realized what he was doing.

He quickly pulled away and sat up, causing Hermione to look startled.

"Sorry," He mumbled, looking away in frustration with himself, "I shouldn't have—"

"No, it's okay. I… I think I'm ready." Hermione replied nervously.

"Are you sure? I don't want you to regret anything." Draco asked in surprise, he didn't want to pressure her into it.

"I'm sure if you're sure." Hermione said, looking into his eyes.

"This feels sort of dirty after meeting your parents." Draco smirked and moved closer to Hermione. He started to kiss her, but she stopped him.

"I love you." She whispered against his lips.

He looked deep into her brown eyes. "I love you too. Now you're sure you're ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." Hermione said before her lips met with Draco again.


	25. Goodbye

Chapter 25: Goodbye

Chapter 25: Goodbye

Hermione awoke to the movement of Draco some time before dawn. She slowly opened her eyes and lifted her head to see what he was doing. The room was still dark but she could see a faint outline of him walking quietly toward the door.

"Draco," Hermione whispered, startling him, "What are you doing?"

He turned his head and walked back to the bed "I just remembered I forgot to pack something and I might forget in the morning."

"Oh, okay." She mumbled, half awake.

"Go back to sleep, I'll be right back." Draco told her and kissed her forehead.

Hermione nodded and slowly drifted back into a deep sleep.

Several hours later, she opened her eyes again, blinded from the sunlight streaming into the room. Hermione shivered slightly, feeling the cooler air on her body. Suddenly she realized that she was the only one lying in the bed. If Draco were still there, he would be keeping her warm.

Hermione rolled over and hear something crinkle slightly underneath her. She felt for what it was, worrying about Draco and whether he was still packing. She pulled out a piece of parchment, folded neatly into a letter. There was also a small box with it.

Her eyes closed tightly as tears rose and she immediately understood what was going on. Draco had already taken off for the new school. Hermione's breathing quickened, feeling as if her heart might explode if she read the letter. She knew that she would have to read it eventually so she forced herself to open it. Through her blurry, teary eyes, she began to read.

Dear Hermione,

I'm so sorry I didn't tell you that I would be leaving early this morning, but I couldn't bear to see you cry again, knowing that it was because of me. I want you to know that I will always love you, no matter what happens between us. These next three years will seem like forever, but I am willing to wait that long as if you are. I promise I'll write to you and try to visit if possible.  
You are the most amazing person I ever met and I don't think there is anyone as perfect for me as you are. When I'm out of this school, I want to spend the rest of my life with you and I truly mean it. Even if something happens while we're apart, I know that in the end we will be together and everything will all work out.  
Inside the box is something for you so that you can always be reminded of me and remembers everything between us. Please don't be upset, you know I wouldn't want that and that I never meant for this to hurt you. I'm sure I'm already missing you while you read this and once these years are over, you won't be able to keep me away from you.

Love, forever,  
Draco  
Hermione sniffled heavily as she folded the letter back up and took the box in her hands. She slowly opened it, revealing a sparkling gold ring with a small heart shaped ruby. Inscribed neatly on the inside were the words: remember me. Hermione slipped it onto her finger, where it would always stay.

The Hogwarts express would depart in only a few hours but Hermione didn't feel like having breakfast. She didn't feel like talking to any of her friends or doing anything. All she wanted was to see Draco one more time. She tried to remember her last conscious moment with him but her memory was blurred.

Hermione sat on her bed until she had an hour before the train would leave. She had packed everything she had along with the letter and placed her trunk by the portrait hole. Finally, she decided it was time to start heading down to the Great Hall to meet with Harry, Ron, and Ginny. They were either worried about her or thought that she was still spending time with Draco.

The Great hall was crowded with students saying their good-byes. Hermione thought of the first time she walked through the oak doors in front of her and realized that soon it would be the last time. Her friends were found chatting in the corner of the hall, each bearing a sleepy look.

"I have the worst headache." She heard Ron groan, placing his head in his hands.

"It's called a hangover dumb ass." Harry stated holding hands with Ginny who looked sad, knowing that she wouldn't have Harry with her the following year.

"Shut up, I know what it's called…" Ron looked up grumpily at Harry.

"Hey, there's Hermione." Ginny pointed as if she'd been waiting for her. Her eyes were red from crying but none of them knew that Draco had left yet.

"Hi." Was all Hermione said when she reached them.

"Where's Draco? Is he with his other friends?" Ginny asked, trying to spot Draco across the Great Hall.

Hermione couldn't answer. The mention of his name made her heart ache as if it had been literally broken. Her eyes were tired of crying but she couldn't keep herself from sobbing in front of her friends.

"He left, didn't he?" Ginny whispered as Ron stood up. Hermione nodded, wiping tears away but it was no use, they would just continue falling.

Ron gently placed his arms around Hermione and pulled her into a comforting hug. She placed her head on his shoulder, knowing that he was just being a good friend, and they stood in each other's embrace until it was time to leave.

The Hogwarts Express shone brightly in the sunlight but no one seemed too excited to see it. Harry and Ginny put their trunks in the same compartment and Ron and Hermione did but left to find an empty compartment. Ron needed much persuasion to let them go and soon it was just him and Hermione.

"Are you alright?" He asked, seeing Hermione look sadly out the window, watching the castle grow smaller by the second.

"There's nothing I can do to stop him from staying. I want him to be happy so I guess I'll just have to be patient for the next three years…" She sighed and could feel that now familiar pain growing in her chest. "When does the Quidditch training start?" She changed the subject before she started crying again.

"Soon, I think. I'm supposed to get an owl saying when." Ron replied and Hermione could tell he was eager to play for his favorite Quidditch team.

"And Harry's waiting until September to start his auror training right?"

"Yeah, he's waiting for Ginny to go back for her seventh year before he starts. I think he's spending the summer at the burrow." Ron informed her.

The rest of the train ride continued with light conversation between the two who were later rejoined by Harry and Ginny. The train pulled into platform nine and three quarters late in the afternoon. The students took their trunks and dragged them onto the station platform.

"Hermione," Ginny started once the boys had gotten a few steps ahead, "Mum said you're welcome to spend the summer at the burrow, Harry too. You should come; I think it might get your mind off of him"

"I guess that could help…" Hermione sighed, watching the train leave behind them.

The next three years would seem like forever and Hermione doubted she would get Draco off of her mind for even a day. She said goodbye to her friends, knowing that she would see them soon, and walked silently through the barrier into the muggle world. Hogwarts was in the past and out of her life, as would be Draco Malfoy for the next few years.

Author notes:

There will be another story but this one was about love. The next story will be complete different.

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